


KyaLin's Travels

by slowdissolve



Series: KyaLin Sketches and Adventures [3]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Adventure, Avatar: The Last Airbender References, Drama & Romance, F/F, Fluff, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-11-18 04:01:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 43,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11283339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slowdissolve/pseuds/slowdissolve
Summary: Kya and Lin Beifong on vacation, on Kya's boat, from Republic City down to the South Pole. Some stops in between.





	1. On the Beach

Kya lay on a towel stretched out on the sand, eyes closed, soaking up the sun. Her hair gleamed in the light. She listened to the surf and children laughing and screaming as they played with their sandcastles and splashed in the water.

She heard a crunch, and was suddenly cool as she heard an umbrella being opened above her. She opened her eyes, and Lin was there, setting the pole into the sand.

"You'll burn if you stay too long in the sun," she said.

"I haven't been out long," Kya reassured her. "You should try it too. A little sun is good for you."

"I get freckles," Lin said.

"You DO? That would be ADORABLE!"

"Hmpf."

"Not that you're not gorgeous the way you are," Kya said, winking.

Lin tried to scowl, but the smile would not let her.

Kya rolled onto her side and propped herself up on an elbow. "But you are," she said, more seriously. "You're really very beautiful."

Lin was sitting now, and drew in her knees, clasping her hands around them. She looked out over the sea. Her scowl was gone, and her face was gentle.

"You're the only one who says that," she said.

"I'll say it again, if you want."

"No…" She sighed. "I'm just so glad I have you."

"You definitely do."

They listened to the waves a while, and gulls calling. The weather could not have been better.

"That's not all," Kya said.

"What?"

"That's not the only reason you have me. Actually, that's not the most important reason at all."

Lin stretched out on her blanket, and closed her eyes.

"For one thing, nobody ever loved me like you."

"What do you mean? You've known lots of women. There were some who had to love you. How could they not?"

"But I don't think any of them loved me, at least not like you do. They loved what we did together. They liked me, or what they wanted me to be. Or how I looked. Or the idea of being in love. All of them loved the idea of love."

"This is different?"

"Very. They all wanted something from me."

"Well, I want something from you too."

"Oh, Lin… it's not the same." Kya laughed. "You always give me way more than you expect from me. It's like they all thought I was something they could keep for themselves. You've never treated me like that."

"After Tenzin broke up with me," Lin said, "I was really angry. I thought it was that he didn't want me. Of course it was because I wanted to be free to have my career, and I didn't want kids, so we really wouldn't have been good together. But still, he left me for Pema, and that hurt. It took a long time to get over that. I didn't feel like anyone would want me."

She felt Kya's hand touch hers.

"But now I understand him. I shouldn't have tried to make him stay if he wasn't going to be happy. Now he is. That's better for him and for me."

"That's another reason," Kya said.

"It is?"

"There's so much more to you than meets the eye. Everybody knows you're tough. Everybody knows you're strong and brave. You're an amazing earth bender. But only I know that you're wise."

"Ha! Wise!"

"Yes, wise. And smart! Oh my gosh, you're so smart!"

Lin laughed.

"And you know art, and you know music, and you can talk to those United Republics legislators or governors or anybody about anything. That kind of smart. And you're kind, and generous, and you care about everyone, and you want things to be fair for everyone. But the weird thing is, nobody seems to know all this but me."

Lin and Kya's fingers were woven together now. Lin gave a gentle squeeze.

"I guess nobody took the time to find out before," Lin said.

"I'm so glad I did. There's so much about you to love."

Kya noticed a tear slide down Lin's face as she lay on the blanket. She leaned over and kissed it away.

"I didn't mean to make you cry."

"But I do want to keep you for myself. It's so hard when you're not with me."

"It's different. You don't try to own me. You said from the beginning that you wouldn't, and you never have. Somehow, just knowing that I could leave… I don't want to think about leaving. It makes me want to stay with you. And maybe that's just it, Lin. I love you because you want me to be me."

"I love you because you are you. Why would I want to change you? All those things you said about me. Wise? Smart? Caring? That's all you too."

Kya wriggled over and lay close to Lin on the blanket. Her eyes were open now, and they looked at each other a long, long time. She bent and kissed Lin softly.

"I do have one thing I'd like to change about you, though," she said.

Lin's eyes widened. "There is?"

Kya knocked over the umbrella, and hot sunlight spilled onto both of them. "I wanna see you with freckles!"


	2. In the Harbor Town

The cottage on the beach was cool overnight, but the bed was cozy, and it was so hard to get up in the morning. Lin woke and looked over to Kya next to her, lying on her stomach, her hair everywhere. A tanned arm was flung over the white sheets, and a stripe of sunlight came in through the window. Lin suddenly had the desire to paint this picture. She took it in, committing the image to memory.

She rose and went into the bathroom. When she returned, Kya had rolled over and cocooned herself in the blankets.

Lin smiled, and lay down next to her. She moved the silver hair away from Kya’s face and kissed her cheek. Then she started tugging the blankets from underneath her lover.

“mmrmrm”, Kya protested.

“Blanket stealer! Let me in!”

Kya rolled again to face Lin, and threw the blanket over her. She pushed Lin up onto her side, and snuggled in against her back, wrapping that golden arm around her.

“Mmmm,” Lin agreed.

Kya lazily moved her free hand along Lin’s stomach, gently up and down, reaching almost to her breast, and down almost to her mound. They wore nothing, and the contact of skin brought both of them awake. Lin put her hand over Kya’s, lightly, and then guiding. Fingers grazed her nipple, which hardened under the touch. She could feel Kya’s breathing against her back, and Kya’s breasts pressed against her. She was feeling a lovely, familiar warmth thrilling through her again.

The fingers moved slowly, gently, circling. Lin guided them down, but Kya was teasing her now, resisting the push of her hand. She lay her palm flat and pulled Lin even closer.

Lin sighed, and let Kya play. With a fingertip, she drew characters on Lin’s skin. Lin could not make them out.

“What are you writing?”

“Nothing…” Kya said in a sweet voice, feigning innocence.

Lin sighed again, happily. She knew where this was going, and she was getting rather excited for it.

Kya continued to write, exaggerated characters, swashes. Then, as though she’d signed her name, she resumed stroking, gently, but now moving downward, and Lin guided her hand again. She bent one leg up, and Kya’s hand slipped in between, stroking the mound. She was going to be a tease today.

Lin shifted, trying to move onto her back, but Kya wasn’t having any of that. She put her hand flat and pulled her in again, and bent her knees to spoon in behind Lin. Her fingers stroked lightly, circling, until Lin began to make little movements in frustration.

Finally, she slid her hand between Lin’s thighs. She pressed, and moved against the outside of the lips, feeling the seeping wetness. Lin arched into the pressure, wanting more. She continued, denying her a direct touch for a minute or two more.

When she did at last press between the lips, Lin gasped. She was wet and ready. Kya moved two fingers slowly, achingly slowly, along either side of her clit. With her legs pressed together, the pressure was greater and the sensation was wondrous. She moved back and forth against Kya’s fingers, groaning with pleasure.

She felt herself coming towards the edge, and then Kya eased off. She took the opportunity to breathe deeply.

Kya pulled her hip down and let her lay on her back. She complied gladly, and her legs opened, eager for what would be next. Kya touched her again, and slipped two fingers inside, curling forward, applying pressure from there. Lin’s muscles gripped the fingers unconsciously, and she arched her back in pleasure. She was climbing again towards the peak. Then Kya circled her bud with a thumb, and she clutched at the sheets, moaning softly.

Kya turned and got on her knees. She put her lips to Lin’s throat. Lin, blind in her pleasure, sought her with her hands, and found her, gripping her torso, pulling her down onto her, her nails on Kya’s back. Kya’s fingers did not stop, and Lin was breathing raggedly. Their lips met, and their tongues swirled against each other, but then it was too much. Lin tipped over the edge, and pulled away. Her voice could not be contained and she cried out as she was rocked with the orgasm. Waves of pleasure washed over her, and she drowned in them.

Kya resumed her position on her side, and kept a flat palm on Lin’s belly, feeling it rise and fall as she breathed heavily, coming down from the peak.

Lin flung the blankets off. “I’m too hot now,” she said.

“You’re welcome,” Kya laughed.

Lin was still breathing hard. “Oh, come on…oh, what you do to me!”

“It’s only fair, after last night.”

Lin took her wrist, pulled Kya’s hand to her lips, and kissed it. “HOhhhhh.”

“Hungry?”

“Oh, yes, definitely.”

* * *

 

They went into the harbor town where they’d come ashore yesterday, now looking for someplace to get lunch. A hot meal sounded good. A food stall on the market square offered fried things, so they stopped there for crispy dumplings and spring rolls, smacking their lips in anticipation as they placed their order. _Ah, this is so good,_ Lin thought.

At the edge of her vision she saw something moving fast, and turned to see someone duck down a twisted side street. She frowned slightly, but thought little of it. Just her police training. A reflex.

She reached into a pocket for the coins to pay for the meal and came up empty. Suddenly she realized that she’d been pickpocketed, and before Kya could even figure out what was going on, Lin was up and running full tilt toward the street corner where she’d seen the moving figure.

Kya was after her, only a half dozen paces behind, the cook at the stall shouting in surprise and anger. Lin was around the corner, and stopped to bend a stone set of handcuffs that she flung at the runner. Kya arrived and immediately a puddle in front of the runner was ice, and they slipped and fell.

The teenaged girl on the ground looked up to see two strong bender women over her, one scowling, the other more baffled.

“Give me back my money,” Lin growled.

“Lin, wait,” Kya urged. “How do you know she took it?”

“Police instinct.”

The girl, frightened, curled into a ball, and began to sob.

Kya bent her knees and leaned down to touch her.

“Did you steal her money?”

“Yes,” the girl said, in a choked voice. “I’m so hungry.”

Lin softened her stance, but her scowl remained. “So you stole it from me.”

The girl sobbed.

“You know I’ve heard this a thousand times. Every petty thief starts off as a hungry kid,” she said, angrily.

Kya rose and looked at her, shocked. “Lin!”

“What? It’s the truth. Every day we get another one booked in at the station.”

“I’m surprised at you! Where’s your compassion?”

Lin’s scowl deepened, but she said nothing.

Kya helped the girl up from the ground. She was dirty and thin. Her cheeks were hollow and her eyes dark. She looked hungry and neglected.

“Where are your parents?” she asked, gently.

The girl sobbed again, shaking her head.

“Come on,” Kya said, her hand on the girl’s shoulder, gesturing toward the market square. “I’ll get you something to eat. Lin, will you take off these cuffs?”

“No,” Lin said. “Hungry or not, pickpocketing is theft, and it has to be reported.”

“Not until after she has something to eat,” Kya said. She looked Lin in the eyes, and Lin was taken aback by the disappointment and anger in her face.

“All right. Fine.”

In an awkward silence, they returned to the food stall, and Lin reluctantly broke the stone cuffs in half, but left them around the girl’s wrists, in case she needed to fuse them again. The relieved stall cook smiled and served up their dumplings and rolls. The young girl dived on them.

Kya pulled Lin aside. “What’s wrong with you? Can’t you see she needs help?”

Lin was irritated, but she tried to be reasonable. “I see this every day, Kya. We catch a pickpocket, and the first thing out of their mouths is that they’re hungry. Three years later they’re in jail for working with the triads, or worse.”

“What do you do to help them?”

“What can we do? More than half the time they’re lying, and they’re just stealing for fun. Anyway, even if she’s not lying, she’s broken the law.”

“How do you know she’s lying?”

“I don’t.”

“So you just assume that she is.”

Lin clenched her eyes shut in frustration. “There are too many. I want to help these kids, but there are too many with sad stories. No family, no money, nowhere to go. They always go down this road. I don’t know how to stop it.”

“Mako and Bolin didn’t. They turned around.”

Lin looked away. “No,” she said.

“Did she really steal that much from you?”

“That’s not the point. The point is that she broke the law. The law has consequences. Without the law, we have chaos. Remember the Red Lotus? Chaos.”

“Come on, Lin. Did she steal that much from you?”

“No,” Lin said again, glumly.

“We can’t save the world,” Kya said. “But we can have compassion for the people we meet in the world.”

“And the law? What about that?”

“Talk to her. Tell her about the consequences. Tell her about the road she’s on. That can be compassionate too. Warn her about the danger.”

Lin did not know what to say. She knew Kya was right; she loved Kya for her gentle heart; but she was driven to see justice done. She felt guilty for possibly ruining a young girl’s future over a few coins. But there were too many. Thousands of children, in every city, hungry, turning to theft to make up the difference. What could any one person do?

“All right, all right,” she grumbled. “I don’t think it will do any good, but if you want me to, I will.”

Kya smiled and kissed her lightly. “That’s the Lin I love.”

Lin rolled her eyes. They went back to the stand, where the girl had just finished eating both orders. With a laugh, Kya ordered another batch, and the delighted cook gave her a signal of approval.

“First,” Lin said, sternly, “give me the money back.”

Her eyes lowered, the girl reached into her shirt and handed back the handful of coins she’d lifted off Lin.

“Second, what’s your name?”

The girl, still not meeting their gaze, replied, “Noma.”

“Noma, do you have family here?”

The girl shook her head.

“Have you been here long? You're too smooth for a new pickpocket.”

“Year and a half,” she said, meekly.

“Where do you live?”

“There are caves in the cliffs outside town. I have a…place.”

Kya looked at Lin with a sad look.

“Do you know what happens to pickpockets?” Lin asked, still stern.

“Jail.”

“I don’t mean just jail. Do you know what happens to girls who start out as pickpockets?”

Noms looked up for the first time, her dirty face streaked with tears. “What happens?”

“They get mixed up with the wrong people. They end up stealing and hungry their whole lives. They get stuck with criminals who hurt them, beat them, or make them… do things… with men... for money. They don't have control over their own bodies. They can’t get away. You understand me?”

Noma’s face wrinkled in despair. “Yes.”

“Too often, they end up dead, too young.”

The girl’s head dropped and she sobbed again. Lin’s heart was near breaking, but she kept her exterior tough. She looked at Kya, and gestured with her head toward Noma. Kya took the hint and put an arm around Noma's slim shoulders.

“We’re trying to tell you that we want to help you,” Kya said. “You don’t have to let that happen to you.”

Lin reached into her jacket. She pulled out a few bills, and handed them to Noma. “Here’s fifty yuan. Go get yourself some new clothes, get cleaned up, and look for work. It’s harder than pickpocketing, but safer in the long run. Save the last ten. If you find you can’t get a job anywhere, take a train to Republic City. Future Industries may have something for you.”

The girl looked at her in wonder. “But… why?”

“Because we have to have compassion for the people we meet in the world.”

Kya looked at Lin, eyes wide.

“Noma, promise me you’ll try to stop. I’m giving you some help now, but once it’s gone you have to help yourself. Don’t take the easy way. Nothing worth having is easy.” Lin stood straight and folded her arms. “You’re going to have to find an earthbender if you want to take those cuffs off. I’m going to leave them there to you remind you.”

“But how will I pay you back?” Noma asked, her face shining with more tears.

“Don’t pay me back,” she said. “Help someone else.”

“I promise.” Noma jumped forward and embraced Lin. “No more.”

Lin stiffly patted Noma on the back. “Okay. Okay. Yes."

The girl wandered away, turning to smile and wave.

“Now that really _is_  the Lin I love,” Kya said.

“There’s no guarantee she’ll keep her promise.” Lin grumped.

“There are no guarantees about anything.”

“Are you happy now?”

“That’s the wrong question, Lin. Does this make _you_  happy?”

“It makes me feel like I just threw away fifty yuan,” she said.

“Lin…” Kya came over to her, and took her hands, and looked her in the eye. “You did a wonderful thing.”

“It’ll never be enough. If I were to give fifty yuan to every hard luck case like that, I’d go broke, and nothing would change.”

“It’s changed for her. For today. She’s going to try.”

Lin saw the earnest look in Kya’s face, and knew she was right, at least about Noma. “Better to have some hope than none, I guess,” she said.

And then Kya kissed her cheek, and pulled her back to the stand. “Our dumplings are ready. Let’s eat.”


	3. The Rain

The sun was high overhead as they sailed out of the harbor town.

Lin wasn’t quite happy. They’d had lunch, and she let the issue of Noma drop, preferring not to fight with Kya. She told herself it was no big deal. Fifty yuan might be a great sum of money to some people… to a lot of people, actually… but for a Beifong it was not much at all.

She’d tried to shake off this sad feeling, but it wasn’t working. The part of her that had always been committed to fairness was in conflict with a fundamental principle of common law across the Earth Kingdom, the United Republics… everywhere, really. People aren’t supposed to just take things that don’t belong to them. But why did some people have too much, and many others not enough? Some people worked hard for next to nothing, and some had everything given to them for nothing.

She was right about this much: even if she gave away every bit of wealth the Beifongs ever owned, it would still never be enough to alleviate the suffering of all the hungry people. But did that mean she should give nothing away? No, of course not.

This went through her mind as they prepared to leave, new fresh water and food brought aboard, trimming the sails and checking the winds, knots tightened and ropes coiled and ready, passing through the shoals and out into open water.

And now, out on the ocean, alone with Kya again, she was just… unhappy. She’d never seen Kya look at her that way, disappointed and angry. This was a tough one. She was right, and she knew she was right; but she also knew Kya was right. How could this be? And was she not compassionate enough? Kya had not seen some of the ugly situations she’d handled as a police officer.

Kya was there, fighting against Zaheer as she had done, fighting the Red Lotus. She remembered how injured Kya had been at their hands, and felt a pang that she’d tried to use those horrific events to make a point about chaos. It was true, but was it fair?

But those were great battles and historic events; Kya had never seen the little everyday evils that were Lin’s task to quell. People who did cruel things to their spouses, to their own children. Pimps and sex slaves. Drug addicts and triad thugs, putting muscle on the weak for less money than she’d just handed away today. Mean-spirited teenagers destroying property for fun. Stealing and beating people for fun. That was true and it happened all the time, and their rich parents bailing them out and being friends with the judges…

It was the petty awfulness that she dealt with every day that had hardened her, even against poor young people like Noma. It was difficult to be compassionate towards people with no compassion themselves.

And there was Kya, at the rudder, looking at the skies, so beautiful, so caring, so ready to forgive. How was it possible? How did one let go of anger? How did one look at the suffering and cruelty side by side in the world and not go mad?

Kya caught her gaze and they studied each other a moment. Kya was her closest friend, her lover. The one who knew her best; knew things about her no one else knew. She’d called her wise just yesterday, there on the beach. Was Lin wise? She didn’t feel that way now. Kya was wise, maybe more than Lin could understand.

“What’s on your mind, baby? You’re so quiet.”

“Still thinking about what happened,” Lin said. “I feel… mixed up.”

“That explains the look on your face.”

Lin looked away, off to the horizon. The sea was odd. She could not read the waves the way Kya could, but something seemed different about the water’s color this afternoon. Everything seemed…felt… out of balance.

“Are you angry at me?” Kya asked.

Lin was shocked at the question. She turned and caught her eyes again, and they were full of concern. “I… No! No, I’m not angry at you. I don’t know how I feel.”

“You could talk to me about it,” Kya offered.

She could. She could talk to Kya about anything, she realized. Even if Kya were the reason she was so troubled.

“How can we both be right about Noma?”

“Because… I don’t know… maybe we’re looking at two different sides of the same thing.”

Lin pondered this. She saw people for what they’d done. Kya saw them for what they were. Both were correct, and neither changed the other at all. Sometimes you had to let be people be what they were, sometimes you had to take their actions into account. That was real fairness. That was balance.

“You’re the wise one, Kya.”

Kya laughed. “Your mind must be working pretty hard, if that’s what you’ve decided!”

Lin deftly crossed the ship to join her at the rudder. She took it in hand and Kya sat down to rest.

“It’s all about balance again, isn’t it? It always comes to that. What people do, what people are… where the balance is.”

“That sounds about right.”

“But I still can’t figure out how so many can be hungry while so few have so much.”

“That’s a tough one, isn’t it?”

“Impossible. No Avatar yet has figured it out, as far as I can tell.”

“Maybe it’s not the Avatar’s job. Maybe that’s everyone’s job.”

“Then everyone is asleep on the job.”

“You’re probably right.”

“So what are we supposed to do? We're only two people.”

“Maybe… start waking people up?”

They were silent a while. Kya was looking at the sky, and the water. She was paying attention to something.

“I’ve never seen you look that way at me before.” Lin said.

“What way?”

“Disappointed. Angry.”

“I was shocked, Lin. I hadn’t yet considered things from your perspective. We had… we have to talk about it.”

“That’s why I’ve been so quiet. I’ve been trying to figure things out. I was trying to understand how we could both be right, and yet disagree.”

“ And so you decided that I’m wise?” A grin started on her face.

“I did! You are.”

Kya shifted in her seat, and looked out across the water again. She stood, and took control of the rudder again.

“We’re going to have to get the sails down soon,” she warned.

“What do you mean?” Lin asked, puzzled. “We’re out on open water, and there’s no land anywhere.”

“Rain is coming. I can feel it. The water’s changed, and the wind is cooling.”

“Are you sure? I don’t see anything.”

“If we wait until we see something, it will be too late.”

“You’re the captain, Captain.”

“Let me get us pointed against the waves. We don’t want to get barreled in the troughs. That’ll cause us to tip and capsize. Once we’re positioned, we’ll get the sails down and lay out some trailers to help keep us pointed the right way. Then we’ll need to go below and hope there’s no lightning.”

As if to emphasize her point, a gust caused the small ship to lean.

They set to work and did as Kya had said, and sure enough a line of clouds in the southwest had started to form. The waves were beginning to swell, and the boat bobbed up and down. Lin hoped that she would not get seasick; so far almost all of the sailing she’d done with Kya was in good weather, and she was very nervous about being so exposed.

But here, Kya was the expert. This wasn’t her first storm. She came from a people whose livelihood depended on sailing. Lin might well kiss the dirt when they next came ashore, but for now, she would trust Kya.

The first drops of rain fell as they went below. It was a small cabin, but there was a chair and the bunk. Lin climbed into the bunk, and Kya took the chair. The new boat was equipped with a radio, but she left it off. That was for emergencies, and this was just a little rain.

Lin closed her eyes and tried to relax as the ship rose and fell on the waves, now getting larger. Rain pelted the roof of the cabin. She said nothing, because it seemed Kya was concentrating.

The sound of the wind and heave of the ship on the swells were at first frightening, but as they went on, her anxiety faded, and after a time she was lulled to sleep. She noticed when, in the dark of night, Kya climbed into the bunk with her. This time, Lin was the big spoon. The waves had lessened, and the boat was only rising and falling as it had before the storm. A gentle rain was falling still, but the danger had passed.

“Are you all right, darling?” she whispered.

“Yeah. Really tired.”

Lin stroked her hair for a minute or two, but Kya was already asleep. Lin was about to drift back off when she was suddenly sure that, while she’d been sleeping, somehow Kya had saved her life tonight.


	4. High Risk Traders

The morning light woke Lin, and though she hated to disturb Kya’s slumber, she had to go to the head. As gently as she could, she climbed over her and off the bunk, grateful that Kya was a heavy sleeper.

She left the cabin and went up to the deck, yawning and stretching. The rain had stopped, the sky was filled with thousands of tiny trailing clouds, the last remnant of the storm, and off to the west it was clear. To the east she could see the dark line of what had passed over.

She noticed the rudder still lashed in position, and wondered how far from their planned route they’d been blown off course. Kya would be able to tell her, she knew, and she wasn’t about to start raising the sails without her guidance, so for the moment she’d just have to be patient and wait for her to wake. She really had no idea what hour it was when Kya had come to bed; it was full dark outside, and still raining, so it might have been very, very late.

She recalled thinking that Kya had saved her life. It was a powerful feeling; more than just trusting Kya with the safety of the ship during the storm. She wondered why she felt this so strongly. Lin wasn’t particularly… spiritual. She wasn’t great at meditating. She had instincts and hunches, but not premonitions. She could use seismic sensing, like Mother, but this was a different, strange feeling. A knowledge, maybe? But why?

She went below, quietly, and brought up the tiny iron cookstove to make some tea up on deck. She also brought up bread and orange marmalade. A simple, delicious breakfast. It was funny how accustomed Lin had become to being on the boat. Her mother couldn’t swim. A lot of earthbenders weren’t very comfortable in water. And yet, here she was, living the seafaring life with the best captain possible.

Her unhappiness from yesterday had faded. Kya meant the world to her. She was so wise; she was so kind. She didn’t know how, but Kya had to have done something last night to protect her, and she itched to ask. Indeed, she would have loved to go back into the bunk and wake her with kisses and caresses, but no… that could wait.

So she sipped the strong black tea, sitting on a storage chest by the rudder. The air was fresh and clean.

Lin took the time to think again about what she and Kya had discussed. Noma’s situation was all too typical. For every Noma, honestly lost and hungry, there were two punks out breaking the rules for the thrill of it. And it was often hard to tell them apart.

But why were there so many like Noma? Like Mako and Bolin? Orphans and runaway children. Living on the streets, under bridges, in the park. Where did they go in the winter? Sometimes the jails were fuller in the winter, because at least they were heated. Too many had lost parents to triad thugs. Too many new ones from the war with Kuvira. Where did they go? Who was taking care of them? What was President Raiko doing about it? Did the United Republic legislators even talk about it? The regional governors? She’d been so busy rounding them up and getting them off the streets and into jail that she hadn’t really had time to think of a solution to the problem. That was supposed to be their job. If there were someone she needed to wake up, it was those people.

But those people were in their positions because they were too often wealthy and well-connected. They had little contact with these poor children. Who was the voice of the homeless? She hadn’t been. She’d been the one seeing to their arrests.

There was always something more important to handle. The Equalists. The spirits on the loose in the human world. The Red Lotus. Kuvira. Always some big threat to everyone, including the wealthy. As long as their property and way of life was threatened, of course they’d find a way to combat it.

Korra’s first interaction with Lin was after she’d beaten up some criminals trying to shake down a shop owner. With a slight feeling of chagrin, she saw it now from Korra’s perspective. This was why Korra had said that Republic City was out of balance. The police had been doing too little to defend the regular people of the city. Korra was right and she knew it, now, but the big things were always getting in the way. The city… the world was still out of balance. It needed more than just the Avatar. Those big things were Korra’s job. She, Lin Beifong, Chief of Police, needed to see if she could refocus her energies to preventing crime from happening before it ever had a chance. She had to get to the root cause, and she knew that poverty was the source of far too much crime. But she needed to enlist the help of those who could actually do something. She needed to wake those who were asleep on the job.

Kya. She was truly wise. She had taken to heart her father Aang’s spiritual instruction. Balance. Achieve balance and you could achieve peace. How could she love her any more? But there it was.

The tea was done, as was her breakfast. She stood and stretched again. This time, she looked astern, and out past the ship she saw two icebergs, with ropes connecting them to Kya’s boat.

She had to rub her eyes to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating.

Looking closer, she saw that the icebergs had boats frozen inside them. Powerboats. And on those boats were men, huddled against the cold.

Kya had been quite busy overnight, and Lin hadn’t heard a thing. She’d been sound asleep. And when Kya had come to bed, she was too exhausted to talk. The only reasonable explanation, then, was that these men had attacked during the storm, and Kya had fought them off, and frozen them in place, and was planning to haul them back to shore.

She laughed aloud. Pirates! She’d been saved from pirates!

She sat back down, and put her feet up. It was a challenge, but this story was going to be worth the wait. She was on vacation, she reminded herself… it was time to relax.

* * *

Late morning, Kya finally came up on deck, yawning. Lin met her at the top of the narrow stairs and met her with arms wrapped around her, and a big smooch on the cheek.

"Well good morning to you too!" she said, surprised. Lin handed her a mug of tea and gestured for her to take the seat on the chest.

"So tell me what happened!" she said, excited.

Kya smiled widely. "You've seen our guests, have you?"

"I did! I had this feeling you'd done something to save my life last night. It was really strange, how strong this feeling was."

"Did you know you snore?" Kya asked.

"Beifongs do not snore," Lin said, without conviction.

"Riiight…" Kya said. "And you're light sleepers who don't snore right through thunderstorms or pirate attacks."

Lin, embarrassed, dropped her gaze, and then they both laughed.

"First things first, though, Lin. We need to get the sails up and get these losers back to port."

"Aye aye, Captain!"

And so they did, and were soon underway again. As the sails went up and caught the wind, they moved forward until the ropes behind them became taut, and there was a jerk. They heard faint protests from the men in the powerboats, and laughed again.

"Okay, so what happened? I'm dying!"

"So the rain was pouring down, right? And I was concentrating with my water bending on keeping us pointed into the waves. The wind was pretty strong, and it was actually some serious work keeping us afloat. The worst of the storm, with the lightning flashing everywhere… I started to get a little concerned.

"Well, so I'm working hard to keep us upright, and then the storm starts to pass, and I'm pretty relieved, right? It's not the worst storm I've ever been through, but it wasn't one of the easy ones, either. I'm pretty tuckered out. But then I hear the motorboats. I see them coming up on us, and I'm thinking maybe they're here to see if we're all right. So I wave to them, to signal that everything's okay, but they keep coming, and I thought, Monkeyfeathers! They're going to ram us!

"Well, now… it's pretty stupid to come up on any water tribe ship without signaling first, so I know these guys are a little low on ballast in the brain, if you know what I mean, but what they don't know is that they're about to mess with Master Kya, Daughter of Master Katara, of the House of Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe. I'm tired as hell and really not in the mood to play games.

"One of these hogmonkeys is a firebender, but not nearly as good as he thinks he is. He stands up in the boat, and attempts to redirect a lightning strike at me, but it fails. And now he's down, pretty badly hurt. His buddies there are really freaked out. The other boat seems not to know what happened, so they keep coming, so for the moment I'm only gonna deal with them.

"So first, I stop the rain over them and freeze it into a dome, and they slow way down, but not before hitting the side of it pretty hard, so they're all knocked over. Then I come up from below and freeze them up into that iceberg there.

"The other guys are still flapping like arctic hens, not knowing what to do about their buddy. I hit them with a spray, to put out the flames on the guy's clothes, and then draw up a wave behind them to get them closer, because now I'm gonna have to heal him."

As Kya was telling the story, she was moving her body through the forms she'd used during the fight. Lin admired her graceful movements, and was frankly more than a little turned on.

"All right… so I get them up alongside, and hop over to their boat, but now they're all ready to fight. One of them throws a punch, and I duck, and yank him overboard with a water spout. The next guy rushes me, and I sidestep, and he tumbles right over the port side. I step over Master Firebender there, still pretty singed, and the last guy pulls a dagger on me, but I slap it out of his hands with the water whip, and then kick him in the gut. So he's down. Now I can get on with making sure Mr. Flameo down there is still alive, and he is, so I cover him with water and take care of the worst of his burns. He's still gonna be pretty sore and have a few scars, but hey, not my fault."

"Spirits, Kya! He tried to kill you! And you healed him!"

"Well, yeah…" Kya looked thoughtful. "I guess I didn't think about it."

She went on, "So then I chill out the floaters down there, and lift them back into the boat, and freeze it into another iceberg. A few draglines and knots later, we're all a happy family on the water."

"But the storm! It was still going on?"

"Oh, yeah, it was raining like gangbusters! The lightning was all up in the clouds, though, so I wasn't too worried."

"I'm so sorry I wasn't there to help you!"

"Oh, Lin, don't worry about that. I'm not sure what you could have done except tie a few knots."

"I can't believe you fought off a bunch of pirates all alone, in the dark, in a thunderstorm! You're so… amazing!"

"Aww, Lin…"

Lin stood and took her around the waist and kissed her soundly.

"So sexy too! I'm sorry I missed it, just for the show."

"It was a pretty good show, if I do say so myself." She went to the side of the boat and yelled. "Hey, pirates! You thirsty? Need any water?"

One yelled back, faintly. "High risk traders!"

"Shaddup!" Kya yelled back.

"You astonish me, Kya. You even worry about people who try to hurt you."

"I guess so? They're still people."

"That's the Kya I love," Lin said.

"This Kya needs a nap," she responded.

"I can take the rudder for a while, if you want to rest. You certainly deserve it. What's our heading, Captain?"

"Steady as she goes, my dear first mate."


	5. Hei Bai's Forest

The storm had blown in from the southwest, so they had been drifting eastward, toward a port town where the sea was being filled by a wide river. As they sighted land, Kya made a radio call to any passing ships, looking for assistance with the pirates she’d captured.

The local authorities sent out a cutter and were most grateful for the capture; they were impressed to meet the Avatar’s daughter. Through conversation with the guard and a little deduction, Lin and Kya realized this was the Pirate’s Pier, where Katara had stolen the waterbending scroll from “high risk traders” all those years before. Mom would get a good laugh out of that, she said.

They pressed on. They sailed west by southwest, hugging the Earth Kingdom’s coastline. A great oak forest covered the mountainsides as they came around the isthmus and headed more southerly.

They came ashore and set up a tent at the mouth of a smaller river that emptied out of the forest. Here the trees were somewhat shorter than those they’d seen so far. Kya pointed out on her map that this was where her father had first entered the Spirit world, following Hei Bai, the panda-like spirit who had terrorized the village after the Fire Nation had burnt the forest to the ground. Lin was filled with emotion, recognizing how completely the forest had reestablished itself. The stories her mother and Mother's friends had told her as a child were now grounded in real places. It was strange, in a way, to think of Aang and Katara as children, and nearly impossible to picture her mother Toph as a young girl.

It was easier for Lin to remember Kya as a young woman. She’d joined the police, following her mother, learning metalbending and seismic visualization. Kya was just about to go off on her travels around the world.

“I really wish I’d known you better when we were younger,” Lin said, as they sat by a fire.

“Me too. I never did quite see what you saw in Tenzin,” Kya said, with a smirk.

“He was like Aang. He was gentle and respectful, and a good bender. He wasn’t a jerk like so many men were. Are. Will always be.” She chuckled.

“But he’s _so serious!_ ”

“Well but so am I, don’t you think?”

“Not exactly… I mean, yes, you take things seriously, but somehow, with you, it doesn’t seem like being a stick in the mud. Tenzin’s always been uptight.”

“He’s your brother. Of course you’d think that. But you didn’t think I was a stick in the mud too?”

“Honestly, I was really attracted to you. I thought you were absolutely breathtaking. But…you know… since you were dating him, I didn’t think I stood a chance. And there were so many other pretty girls to meet who were free, so I just… went my own way.”

“Even then?” Lin was surprised and pleased.

“Even then,” Kya said, with a smile.

“For what it’s worth, you were very beautiful too. You’re even more so now. I’ll say it again: I wish I’d known you when we were younger. All that time we missed.“

“For what it’s worth, you were worth the wait.”

A year and more since they’d first kissed, but here, by the fire, Lin’s heart was pounding as it had that first night. Kya wasn’t just beautiful; the look in her eyes transformed her into something extraordinary, otherworldly. “You’re like a spirit,” she whispered.

Kya, always quick with a comeback, was for once at a loss for words. Her eyes sparkled as they filled with tears. “You… I…”

Words were pointless, and she put her hand at the back of Lin’s neck and pulled her into a soft kiss, lips pressing gently, mouths just open slightly, feeling the warmth of breath on each other’s faces.

They were sitting side by side, facing the fire, and Kya leaned into her. Lin moved to lie back on their blanket. Kya followed, on hands and knees, the kisses moving from lips to nose, to chin, to throat. Lin’s hands were everywhere, gently caressing shoulders and arms, back and neck, breasts and belly. Kya put a thigh between Lin’s legs, pressing.

“No, you! It’s your turn!” she protested.

“Turns,” Kya mumbled, between kisses. “Who cares?”

Lin let her head loll back and she soaked up the way Kya was making her feel. Her stomach was full of electricity, her breathing shallow.

Kya was pulling off Lin’s clothes, urgently pushing her fingers inside and shoving the fabric up to get it off her, hands inside pulling down. She wanted her right now. Lin wriggled herself out of her clothes as quickly as she could, and then she was determined to free Kya from her dress and bindings.

In the darkness, the red light of the fire illuminated their bare skin, and they moved against each others’ length, enjoying the freedom of their nudity, trying to feel every centimeter of touch along their torsos and thighs. Kya again placed her knee between Lin’s legs and pressed, and felt the warm wetness on her thigh. She moved forcefully, creating a friction that Lin ground against. She pushed herself closer, and Lin lifted the thigh that Kya straddled, so that they moved one against the other.

But Kya wanted to taste as well, so she moved quickly, bringing her lips down to Lin's sex, her tongue probing.

“Hey!” Lin gasped, and pulled on Kya, turning her so that she too could taste, Kya above and Lin below. They sought a rhythm, and found it, moving tongues against the thrust of each others’ hips. Unable to contain their cries of pleasure, each was bringing the other closer to their climax, and when Kya came, her body shaking, Lin was there too, and they gripped each other tightly.

They lay breathing, upside down from one another, for only half a minute, and then Kya turned and brought herself back to face her lover again. That look in her eyes was still there, and Lin’s heart was caught in it.

Kya said, “I don’t know how, but every day…”

“I love you more,” they said together. And they held each other tight.


	6. Secret Tunnel

“If we head up this river here, we can get to Omashu through the Secret Tunnel!” Kya was excited… this was one of her favorite songs. When she was a little girl, Uncle Sokka would always smack himself in the forehead whenever she sang it, but he would would never explain why. Mom and Dad always gave each other a knowing look, and would frequently kiss when they heard her sing.

“Have you been through it before?”

“No. I could never get anyone to go along with me. Everyone in Omashu still thinks the tunnels are cursed. And to get through it, you’re supposed to ‘trust in love’.”

“I’m game,” Lin said, enjoying Kya’s excitement. _And why not?_ she thought, _I’ve never been more in love than today._

The trip upriver took most of the day. Kya used waterbending to help them along, but it was still quite a long journey. When they arrived at the small cove near the Cave of Two Lovers, she was worn out and they stopped to rest for the evening.

They swam and cooked some freshwater fish they caught there, relaxed, happy. This was the best vacation Lin had ever been on in her whole life. Trips with Mother were infrequent and always focused on the destination, and her younger sister Suyin was a pain, in the way only little sisters could be. When she got older, and joined the police, it seemed her vacations, sometimes taken unwillingly, were short, and she spent most of the hours alone, reading.

This was so different! Being in the wilderness was exhilarating, and she could see why their parents had bonded so strongly; not just because of the mission to escape Zuko and defeat the Fire Lord, but because of the time alone together. No distractions, beautiful scenery, good conversation. And she and Kya talked at length, reminiscing about their childhood, telling stories about the years they’d spent in different places.

Yet, as the evening went on, Lin felt herself growing uncomfortable hearing about the many women Kya had met on her travels. From the beginning, she'd known Kya had this history, but Kya had not gone into much detail. Listening to her describe, in sometimes glowing terms, the long list of fascinating people she'd met, there was a sense of resentment that Lin tried hard to quash. She did not want to feel envious of Kya's freedom, but Kya had spent years in the pursuit of new experiences and pleasures, while Lin worked hard at busting criminals. She felt regret that she'd spent so much time working, and a strange feeling…was it insecurity? that while Kya had met so many friends and had so many lovers, Lin had had exactly none after Tenzin.

As Kya kept telling her stories, Lin grew quiet, asked fewer questions, offered less to the conversation. It was becoming awkward.

"Lin? Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she said, but she did not feel it.

"Did you hear what I asked?"

"No, I'm sorry. What was it?"

"I said you looked tired. Are you ready to turn in?"

"I suppose yes."

"What's wrong, baby? You're making an awful face."

"I'm… it's nothing."

"Are you sure? Do you feel all right?"

"Tired. Let's… I just want to sleep."

Kya watched her carefully. She was aware that Lin was not telling her everything, but was suddenly afraid to ask.

"All right, baby. Let's get some rest."

They banked the fire for the night, and prepared to sleep, spreading the bedrolls and blankets out. Lin climbed into the tent and lay down with her face to the wall.

Kya took this as an invitation to be big spoon, curling up behind her, but Lin was tense. Something really was wrong. Gently, she massaged her back and shoulders, but Lin seemed to shrink from her touch.

"Tell me what's wrong, love."

"I'm… it's nothing."

"You said that before. But it's not nothing, baby. What's the matter?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Then we probably _should_ talk about it, Lin. What's making you so unhappy?"

"I'm being irrational," Lin said, "and I would rather not say something I'm going to regret."

Kya was silent.

"Maybe tomorrow," Lin said, and curled into herself.

Kya was baffled. What had happened? She was just telling some stories… Lin had told some too… was it something in the stories that bothered her? She knew that Kya had met a lot of different people… that wasn't news. She'd told her about things she'd seen, and women she'd met…

Was Lin angry? She said he was being irrational. Did that mean that the stories about those other women troubled her, but she didn't want to say so?

Kya was stung. This was her life, and she wasn't about to be ashamed of it. Lin was angry because she was telling her about it? Was that fair? She said she was being irrational. That had to be it. Lin knew in her head that Kya had a history, but in her heart she disapproved.

Kya rolled over, so that the two were back to back. Each took a long time to fall to sleep, and their dreams were disquieting.

* * *

In the morning they packed up their camp and hiked to the entrance of the Cave. The warning was still there: only those who trust in love could make it through.

They entered, and wandered into the darkness.

After a few minutes of following the winding tunnels they came to a place where the paths diverged. Lin turned off her flashlight, and when their eyes adjusted they saw on the roof of the cave the glowing crystals, just as Aang and Katara had told them in childhood stories. They followed the dim lights inward until they came to the place where the two ancient lovers, Oma and Shu, were entombed. Lin switched on her flashlight so they could read the story and to see the carvings that had been left in an eternal night.

In the dim light, Lin watched Kya as she read the carvings. She'd been cold to her last night, but today was a new day, and she was determined not to feel inadequate. Logically it was absurd; she was here with her now, and again and again they said they loved each other. Whatever had happened in the past was in the past, and it was time to put it behind. They had a future together.

She reached over and took Kya's hand. Kya jerked, surprised at the touch.

"I'm sorry," Lin said. "I didn't mean to startle you."

“Huh.” Kya said, her hand limp. “So are we talking now?"

"What do you mean? When did we stop?"

"Last night. You didn't want to talk then. Are we talking now?" Kya’s voice was sharp.

"I… Yes… I guess I didn't…"

"I'm not going to apologize for the life I've had."

"What? Kya, that's not…"

"It's not what? Not a problem? You just had to wrap your mind around all the women I've been with, to solve the equation? Did you calculate the total?"

"No! Don’t be ridiculous.” Lin could not keep the irritation out of her reply.

"You disapprove."

"When did I ever say that? What makes you think I would say that?"

"Why’d you get so touchy then? I told you about the places I'd been, and the people I met. Was it too much for you?" she asked bitterly.

“Touchy? I wasn’t… No! Kya, stop.”

"Well, what was it then?" she demanded.

"I… I felt like… I was envious."

"Why? Didn't all the times I said I love you matter to you? Did you think I was making that up?"

“Oh, come on, Kya. That's not what I meant at all."

"What do you mean, then? What won't you tell me?"

"You… you did all these things… and I didn't. You saw the world. I didn't. After Tenzin, there was NO ONE. You didn't have to be lonely. I was. I was jealous that you got to be free and not be lonely. And now, now I can't get those years back."

"Oh."

Now Lin was hot. "'Oh.' Is that all? You hammer on me because you thought I disapproved of your life? Why would you think that? All the times I said I love you… did that not matter to YOU? I knew about all the stuff you did… maybe not in detail, but I knew."

"So why did you get so cold on me? Why did you say you were being irrational? Why wouldn't you talk to me?"

"I told you I didn't want to say anything I was going to regret! I was sad! I was upset, and I was embarrassed! Because I started to feel like I wasn't good enough. You told me about all these beautiful, talented, exotic people. What am I? A stick in the mud? Your brother's old ex?” Lin’s voice was rising. “Did you feel pity for me, the poor, lonely, old maid Lin Beifong?“

"Lin, no! No!"

They didn’t notice that the crystals had been gradually becoming more dim as they argued. Before they knew it, it was thickly dark around them. Lin had difficulty seeing Kya's face.

There was a rustling sound, and they could feel a disturbance in the air above and between them. They were struck by leathery wings.

“Wolfbats!” Kya yelled, diving for the floor.

One knocked the flashlight from Lin’s hand, and the light spun crazily around the tomb. It went out, and neither could see anything.

Lin stomped the floor, getting a seismic read on the room. Kya lay sprawled some distance from her. Wolfbats were flooding through the room, not stopping.

“They’re not stopping! Kya, get up!”

“Lin! Where are you?”

“I’m right over here! Get up! We’ve gotta get out of here! Badgermoles are after the wolfbats!”

She stepped in Kya’s direction, but put her foot on the flashlight. She rolled on it, lost her balance, and she fell.

Kya heard the thud. “Baby! Are you all right? What’s going on?”

“I fell. I’m all right. Come on, we’ve got to go!”

They moved toward each other’s voices, even as they heard the rumble of the badgermoles echoing through the entire cave. At last, they bumped into each other, and in relief threw their arms each around the other. The crystals in the ceiling of the tomb began to grow very brightly, and immediately they could see much more clearly. The tomb and the cave leading out glowed with a cool light. Lin bent for the flashlight, took Kya by the hand, and they dashed forward, away from the rumbling sound.

At a crossroad, Kya asked breathlessly, “Which way?”

Lin pulled her forward again. “This way. This leads to the Omashu gate.”

The rumbling behind them faded. The badgermoles had pursued the wolfbats in a different direction, and now they were safe again.

“Did you see what happened?” Kya asked, astonished.

“The crystals! When we argued, they dimmed. When you hugged me, they grew brighter again!”

“Love glows brightest in the dark, it said.”

“Trust in love, it said.” Lin’s voice was hushed with awe.

“Did we lose our trust in love? I doubted you. I’m so sorry, baby. I know you love me, but I thought you disapproved of what I’d done.”

“And I thought I wasn’t good enough for you.”

“What we do, and what we are. Two sides of the same thing.” Kya pulled her close, and held her tight.

“Oh, Kya,” Lin wept, her cheek on Kya’s shoulder. “I never loved anyone more than you.”

“Any of those women… not one of them compare to you. You’re the most wonderful person I’ve ever known. I love you so much I didn't know it was possible.”

The crystals’ light intensified, until it was quite bright. They went on towards the Omashu gate. Kya went out into the clearing and threw her arms up, spinning in the sunlight, taking it in. Lin asked her to wait a moment, and went back into the cave. She returned a few minutes later, with a satisfied look.

“What did you do?” Kya asked.

“Oh, nothing. You’ll find out,” Lin smiled mischievously.

“Lin… are you keeping secrets?”

“Only the best ones.”

Hand in hand, they started up the long road to Omashu.


	7. The Great Plague of Omashu

Kya spotted it first. “A sky bison! Airbenders are here in Omashu!”

“I wonder who,” Lin said. In addition to Tenzin’s family, Lin and Kya had met all the new airbenders, and were good friends with a few.

“Let’s find out! It’s not far now. And you know, I’m starving for one of the cabbage rolls they have here. They’ve perfected the recipe at this one place.”

They wended their way through the trees, up the path towards the mountain city, but when they reached the city gates, guards stopped them.

“I’m sorry, ladies, but Omashu is under quarantine. I’m afraid I can’t let you in.”

“Quarantine? What’s going on?” Kya said. “I’m a healer from the Southern Water Tribe.”

“We’re not sure, but whatever it is, it’s pretty contagious. Almost everyone inside is ill, and it’s serious. There… there have been some fatalities.” The guard seemed shaken.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I’m a healer. Maybe I can help?”

“I’m not supposed to let anyone in, Ma’am. Orders of Queen Daiyu. But even if it weren’t orders, I wouldn’t let my worst enemy in there. It’s bad.”

“Can you tell me what kind of sickness it is?”

“First there’s a cough and a headache, but then the throat swells up and it gets hard to breathe, and there’s a lot of coughing and snot. People choke.” The guard, a tall, burly man with a thick mustache, was distressed.

“The airbenders? Have they been allowed in?”

“Not exactly. They’ve been dropping food and some other supplies from above, but they haven’t been landing. I know what you’re thinking, Ma’am, and I appreciate it, but it’s not safe for you.”

“I’m a healer! My mother is Katara. You’ve heard of her?”

The guard let a single tear roll down his cheek, but maintained his composure. “My grandmother was a refugee during the Hundred Years’ War. Yes. I’ve heard of Katara.”

The second guard, on the other side of the gate, finally spoke up. “His wife has it. Can you help her?”

“Yes, I know I can. Will you let us in?”

“You’ll take precautions?”

“Of course. I suggest you yourself get a clean, finely woven cloth to cover your mouth and nose, and wash your hands with soap very thoroughly, especially after dealing with anyone who’s been exposed. Try not to touch your eyes, mouth or nose before you wash.”

Both guards bowed deeply, putting their right fists against their left palms. “We are grateful to you, Daughter of Katara. Please don’t tell the queen.”

“We’ll handle that,” Lin said, and the two women returned the formal bow.

The guards opened the main gate just wide enough for the two to slip through, and closed it immediately after.

“Where do we go from here?” Lin asked.

“First we’re going to need masks ourselves, and a lot of soap and water. Where I don’t know, but maybe just start at any house and ask.”

At the first home they came upon, Kya knocked on the door. A child, roughly four years old, opened it wide. “Are you here to help my mommy?”

“Yes, honey. Can you show me where she is?”

The young girl led her to a bed, where a woman lay, struggling to breathe. Her throat was swollen and turning slightly purple, and her face was sallow.

To the little girl, she said, “Can you get me some water?”

The girl went to a large stone jar, but it was too heavy for her to move. Lin picked it up for her and carried it next to the bed. Drawing some out with her bending, she surrounded her hands with water, and placed them on the woman’s throat. Her eyes widened as the swelling went down. She drew a long, rattling breath, and then coughed violently, bringing up a clot of greenish mucus.

“Spirits!” she gasped hoarsely. “I can breathe again!” She struggled to get up.

“Nope! You still need to rest,” Kya said.

“It’s amazing! You… you saved me!” The woman said, as she lay back down.

“I hope so…but time will tell. Can you tell me where I can find some soap to wash our hands, and some cloth to make breathing masks for me and my friend?”

“In the cabinet, over there… on the… “ she coughed again. “Second shelf. Down below.”

Lin found towels and a block of rough homemade soap in the cabinet. On a table next to the bed was a washbowl, and Kya pulled water from the jar, and bent it into the bowl and began to wash her hands, scrubbing each finger.

“My name is Kya, and this is Lin Beifong. I’m a healer from the Southern Water Tribe, and Lin is Chief of Police for Republic City. Do you know where we could go for more help? Are many people sick?”

“Almost everyone is. I hope it hasn’t spread to the palace. The queen?”

“We’ll talk to her.” Lin said.

“Ju. I am Ju. Thank you. You saved our lives.”

Kya warned her, “You still need lots of rest, and you need to make sure your daughter has not caught the infection. Stay in bed until you’re really strong enough to get up, and don’t rush it. You’ll cause more harm than good if you don’t.”

“Do you think you’ve broken the curse?”

Kya looked at Lin, who looked back with a raised eyebrow. She turned to Ju.

“That’s… not how disease works, Ju. This isn’t the result of a curse.”

“The Queen said it was.”

“With all due respect, the Queen doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

Ju looked at the two women with dismay. “How can you say that? She’s the queen!”

“Disease is spread by germs. Spirits really don’t have anything to do with it.”

“How did you heal me, then? Wasn’t it spirit magic?”

Kya was thrown for a moment. She hadn’t really thought about that. Healing was simply a type of bending, and bending was just… bending. What was bending, then? It wasn’t something that anyone that she knew had ever analyzed… it simply was.

“I used my bending. I’m a waterbender, and healing is just… waterbending.”

“The queen has told us that bending was a gift to humans from the first spirits, and we must have done something to offend the mountain spirit, so he’s made us sick. People are dying. We don’t know what we’ve done.”

Lin stepped in. “For the moment, let’s just assume that keeping your hands clean and getting some rest will help you recover. We'll talk to the queen, and see what she thinks has happened. Maybe we can help somehow. It doesn’t matter if Kya used bending or spirit magic. You’re better now, so let’s go from there. Rest now. See if you really are healed.”

Ju’s brow furrowed with anxiety. “I hope you haven’t offended the mountain spirit too.”

Kya turned to the little girl. “You be good and help your mommy. Make sure she stays in bed today, okay?”

The small child nodded solemnly.

After fashioning some masks from the towels, Lin and Kya left the house and went out into the eerily silent street.

“This is really, really weird, Lin.”

“I knew Omashu was remote, but this is ridiculous.”

“Maybe we need to flag down those airbenders. We might need some help.”

“I agree, but I think first we need to get to the palace and have a word with the queen. I don’t understand what’s going on.”

They were at the lowest level of this mountaintop city, and it would have been a long, tiring climb up to the palace, but Lin was able to take them up the earthen chute system unique to Omashu. They approached the palace with hesitation. There were no guards.

* * *

 

A few years before, Kuvira had taken control of nearly all of the Earth Kingdom, though she failed to conquer Republic City. Omashu was an early supporter of Kuvira. The Queen of Omashu was young; too young to rule, so a regent was appointed to control the city and the region around it until she came of age, and the regent’s opinion about order and control aligned well with Kuvira’s. He had hoped to achieve a high position in her government for his cooperation. After Kuvira was captured, and the provinces of the Earth Kingdom became individual states that sent representatives to Ba Sing Se, Omashu returned to its former autonomy, and with the regent in disgrace, Queen Daiyu ascended the throne when she turned fourteen.

Lin had been so flooded with requests for training metalbender security forces that she hadn’t really realized Omashu was not one of the states requesting assistance. Because of its proximity to Zaofu, she assumed her sister had been involved with their leaders.

It was becoming apparent, however, that the last few years had seen Omashu grow increasingly isolated and xenophobic. The regent had done no favors to the city by hammering on “traditional values” and “spiritual renewal”. The technologies that had advanced elsewhere around the four nations were, she realized, strikingly absent here. There were no Satomobiles, no wires overhead. There were no radios.

They wondered what Queen Daiyu was like. So young, and under the influence of such a backward-looking regent, it was possible that he had shaped her to be afraid of the rest of the world.

Kya pressed through the great doors of the palace and entered. Lin was wary and kept her eyes open for any trouble. A long hallway of enormous doors led to the court. The place was silent.

A pair of guards leaned against the last set of doors, but it was obvious that they too had contracted the illness. One was sweating profusely, the other coughing nearly nonstop. Kya approached them cautiously, and said, very quietly, “I’m here to heal you. Will you let me?”

The sweating guard nodded, and Kya drew water from the flask at her side, again wearing it like a glove. She placed her glowing hands against his temples, and it was clear he felt relief from a painful headache almost immediately. She moved down and covered his throat, and his eyes were surprised as the swelling begin to recede.

“Now him!” he said, and the other guard lifted eyes dark with fatigue toward her. She had him sit and put the healing water against his throat and chest. He began to breathe easier, and weakly smiled at her.

She stood straight and said to the first guard, “We need to see the queen, as soon as we can. We can help heal the people of Omashu, but there’s not much time. Also, can you find us soap and water? We need to stay clean and not spread the sickness.”

He nodded and opened the door to the court, and then hurried off as Kya had asked.

Inside, the queen sat on a throne much too large for her small frame, looking terrified, surrounded by her advisors. They were all old men. All of them fell silent as Kya and Lin approached.

“How dare you defy the queen’s orders to stay out! The city is under quarantine!”

“I’m a healer from the Southern Water Tribe, daughter of Katara, Master Healer. And daughter of Avatar Aang.”

There was a murmur as the advisors recognized the names.

“We can help heal the people of Omashu, but there’s very little time. We need to assemble them all in one place, so I can start healing them. We can stop the worst of this before more people die.”

One of the advisors called out, “How can you be any more successful than our doctors? They’ve tried everything! And we’ve pleaded with the spirits, to no avail!”

“The spirits aren’t part of this. This is an infectious disease, and it needs to be treated with medicine, not prayers.”

Again, there was a murmur.

“The spirits are powerful, but they’re not responsible for this,” Kya said. “There’s some other reason. But we can talk about that after we start getting people better.”

“What can you do?”

“I’m a healer! Get the people to somewhere central and I will use my waterbending to help!”

“Start here,” said the queen. Her voice was raspy.

Kya realized that the girl was sick herself. She strode between the men gathered nearby and, as with the guard, covered her hands with water from the flask, touched the queen’s temples, and then her throat. The swelling receded, and her aching head stopped throbbing. She sat back in her throne, astonished.

“Do as she says! She can heal them!” The old men shuffled slowly, uncertain which direction to go.

“If you need to be healed, show her! Don’t be fools! Then go call the guards who can still walk. NOW!”

The men formed a line, and Kya, one by one, brought each of them relief from the effects of the ailment. They all looked at her in awe as their aches faded. And as they stepped away, they hurried from the court, to fulfill the queen’s command. Soon they brought back guards, some assisting them with simply walking into the room. Lin took over triage, and began sorting the more serious cases from the less so.

As those men began to recover, they brought Kya a large jar of water, and she changed the water she used to touch them between every person. Then someone brought her soap… laundry women from the lower levels of the palace brought up soap and towels and buckets. They set to work making masks for everyone’s faces.

Kya soon needed to sit. As she healed each person, she had been using her own qi, her own life energy, to help them recover. She was growing tired, and it occurred to her that she would need time to rebuild her own energy if she intended to heal an entire city.

She called Lin over, and whispered to her. “I’m going to need help. I can’t do this alone. I’ll run out of qi before I can heal everyone.”

Lin, in natural command, assigned guards to take over triage. Then she took a group of them, and with instructions to signal any airbenders they saw, headed outside the palace.

The queen came to Kya’s side. “What can I do?”

“Send the guards out into the city to bring in the worst cases. I’m not going to be able to heal everyone by myself. My friend is going to signal the airbenders, and they’ll go bring more healers, and different medicine. Where we live, there are medicines that will reduce the fever and the swelling without needing my bending. Your doctors evidently haven’t heard of these.”

“We stand by the traditions of Omashu,” Queen Daiyu said. “The world outside Omashu is corrupt and strays from the correct path.” Her voice was slightly mechanical, as though she were reciting something she’d heard hundreds of times.

“The traditions of Omashu are letting you down. If you’d take a look at the world outside Omashu, you might figure out your path has led you here.” Kya was now tired, and her desire to be diplomatic was fading.

The queen looked defeated. “I know,” she said. “I’m a total failure as a queen.”

Kya gave her a sideways look for a moment. She finished another member of the palace staff, and sighed with fatigue. “You’re really young. You’re the victim of some pretty bad advice. Who told you the outside world was corrupt?”

“My uncle.”

“Was he the regent?”

“Yes.”

“But he’s not anymore.”

“No. But my advisors all said he was right. There was a group of people from Zaofu that met with my advisors. They wanted to talk to us about trading, and building a railway from there to here, and showing us new things that would make our lives easier. But then everybody started getting sick. Somebody said it was because of the people from Zaofu that had come to Omashu. I didn’t know what to do. A queen relies on her advisors. They tell me what they think, and then I decide.”

“They told you to close the city?”

“Yes. It sounded like the right thing to do. They were all convinced.”

“When you saw that the doctors weren’t able to help anyone, what did they tell you?”

“That it must be a curse. It didn’t make sense that first it was the group from Zaofu, and then a curse, but my advisors said _they_ must have been the curse, trying to get us to stray from our traditions. We did ceremonies to cleanse the city, but those were useless. Then the airbenders came, but we didn’t let them land, so they offered to bring food and supplies to us.”

“Not medicines?”

“They didn’t know about them! I would have asked, but I didn’t know! I was afraid of what might happen if we let them in.”

Queen Daiyu was deeply stressed. She felt responsible for her people, but she knew she had failed them by keeping the rest of the world at bay. Fear drove her, and the superstitions of the people in her city reinforced the fear.

Someone brought a plate of cabbage rolls to Kya, and she ate them gratefully. She realized that she and Lin had not eaten since the morning, and they’d been working with all the sick people for hours now.

All the most advanced cases of the illness were treated, and after Kya had eaten and had something to drink, she felt much better. She continued on for a while with more people. It seemed the palace was the most central location, so she stayed there in the court while people were brought to her. Those who were treated were able to go and bring others, and the crowd continued to grow around her.

Lin brought back good news. The guards had located the airbenders: Bumi and Kai had been delivering the supplies. Delighted to see them, she asked them to go to Zaofu for help, to bring back any waterbending healers there, and any other practitioners or druggists with medicines to help with this kind of illness. By sky bison, Zaofu was only a few hours away, and they would be back by morning.

As Lin ate the plate of cabbage rolls offered to her, Kya rested. She was being drained.

“I hope the rest of these folks can wait until morning. I’m wiped out.”

“Darling, you deserve a rest. I think you’ve done a hero’s job.”

“Just doing what I do,” she said.

“You’ve done marvelously. And you _are_ marvelous, too. Extraordinary. Amazing.”

Kya managed a smile.

Lin came over to her, and bent and kissed her. There was a ripple of reaction around the court, but Lin ignored it. Indeed, she stood taller afterward, and an unusually broad grin covered her face. She seemed to dare them to call her out. Kya’s heart was warmed by her friend’s moxie. Her best, closest, dearest, beloved friend.

Lin went off to direct traffic and triage again, leaving Kya to rest some more. She caught the eye of Queen Daiyu, whose eyes were nearly goggling out of her head.

The queen was nearby, so she came close and whispered to Kya. “Did she really just kiss you?”

“She did,” Kya said, proudly.

“Are you… married?”

“No,” Kya said. “But I love her.” Married. The word hadn’t crossed her mind, but if there were anyone she would, it would surely be Lin.

* * *

In the morning, Bumi and Kai arrived with a container of medicines from Zaofu.

“Bumi! I never thought I would be this happy to see you!”

“Gee, thanks, Sis!” he said, wryly. “But I’m glad to see you too!” They hugged tightly.

“Are there any waterbenders coming? Hopefully healers.”

“There were two in Zaofu. Northern Tribe. Coincidentally, they were part of a group on vacation too, but they’d been planning to visit Omashu anyway. They didn’t know the city was under quarantine. I guess there’s not a lot of news coming out of this town lately.”

“Nope. I have the feeling that’ll be changing soon.”

“This place is weird, though. Dad was best friends with the king here? Wasn’t he kind of… nuts?”

“He’s your namesake, Bumi. He was one of Dad’s best friends as a kid. So yeah. He was nuts.” She laughed.

* * *

 

After a few hours’ sleep and a strong dose of tea, Kya was refreshed enough to continue. Ju brought in several members of her family, including the guard from the front gate, whose throat had begun to swell overnight. He was her husband. When Kya had taken care of him, he bowed even lower than before.

Lin oversaw the distribution of the medicine. Kya held a meeting with the city’s doctors and described to them the contents of the drugs, and what to expect from them. They were fascinated. She then gave them some basic lessons on hygiene and transmission of disease, and sent them on their way, to move through Omashu and find all the remaining victims of the illness, and to prevent any further cases.

Lin and the queen also met, and discussed the future of Omashu and its relations with the rest of the world. Lin had experience talking to the governors and legislators of the other former Earth Kingdom provinces, and gave her some advice about being a leader who was also a woman. She counseled her to take the advice of men with a grain of salt... that perhaps having a woman or two in the council of advisors might be a good idea. It wasn’t traditional for Omashu, but then again, she said, the nature of nature is change. She promised to be present if Queen Daiyu were to meet Suyin Beifong as head of state of Zaofu; they were, she confided, sisters. Daiyu was starstruck.

“I think the young queen has a crush on you,” Kya said, after the meeting concluded.

“You think so?” Lin seemed amused.

“If I were her, I would so totally be in love with you,” Kya said, slyly.

“I hate to break a young girl’s heart,” Lin said.

“It’s tragic, isn’t it? You’re so taken.”

“You’re right. I’m absolutely taken.”

“Still, she has very good taste.”

“Hmmm…”

“She’s a young woman who’s just come into a position of power, and you’re a gorgeous, intelligent, charismatic woman who is completely accustomed to being in charge. I don’t know how anyone could resist you.”

“By anyone, do you mean you?”

“See? I said you were intelligent.”

“Poor kid. She’s got a lot of terrible work to do. There were lives lost. More orphans. I don’t envy her.”

“You’ve already helped her, you know. You’ve given her hope.”

“What about you? You’ve personally healed over half the people in the city. I don’t know how you’re even still standing.”

Kya put her wrist to her forehead, and pretended to faint. “Oh, no! I’m so weak.”

Lin caught her in strong arms, and Kya for a moment really was weak in the knees.

“Oh! Oh my!”

“Are you all right?”

“Well, I _was_ …”

“Ohhhh… I see…”

Kya sighed. “Do you think we can get away soon? Omashu’s been great, but…”

“But we’re on vacation, and we need a little time to ourselves.”

“Exactly.”

“Do you suppose Bumi and Kai will give us a ride back to your boat? I don’t fancy all that walking.”

“It’s worth an ask.”

* * *

 

Finally, when the line of the sick had tapered off, and Kya knew all the rest could safely wait with medication until the Northern waterbenders would arrive, Bumi and Kai took them down from Omashu and around the mountain that lay over the Secret Tunnel.

“You’ll have to come back here sometime with Jinora,” Kya teased.

“I… uh… maybe.” Kai stammered. “Tenzin doesn’t like us flying alone together much.”

“Tenzin! What a stick in the mud!”

“I’ll be your wingman,” Bumi promised.

Kai blushed.

“Don’t you worry, Kai,” Kya said. “Trust in love.”

This did not decrease Kai’s blushing in the slightest.

“Come on, Kya,” Lin urged. “Let’s be on our way, shall we?”

With hugs they parted, and Lin and Kya were alone again, in the cove, by her boat. It was midday. Kya was still rather worn from all the healing she’d done in the past day.

“You know, we could camp here another night,” Lin said.

“We could.”

“The cove here looks really nice for swimming. We could swim a little too, if you wanted.”

“We could.”

“Or we could take a nap in the bunk on the boat, and maybe leave later this afternoon,”

“Oh, yes… yes, that we could.”

“Nap?”

“Please?”

They went aboard, and down the narrow ladder to the cabin. Before she knew what was happening, Lin had swept her off her feet, and was carrying her to the bunk. Even though Kya stood taller than Lin, Lin held her with strength and confidence, and she placed her softly, gently in the bunk. She took off her shoes, and then casually began to undress her.

“Lin, what are you doing?”

“Shh… it’s time for a nap. Relax.”

She took Kya’s dress and set it aside, and unwrapped her binding. Then she undressed herself, swiftly, and climbed in beside her. She pulled a sheet over them both, and settled in.

“Are we going to… uh…”

“Shh… sleep.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“I just want to be ready when you wake up again. That’s all,” Lin said.

Satisfied with that answer, and exhausted to the core, Kya fell asleep. Lin kept watch over her. _This woman,_ Lin thought, _this extraordinary woman._


	8. Good Game

Leaving Omashu they followed the southern side of the great river and back out to the sea. A quiet day passed, for once without incident.

“Pickpockets, pirates, and plague,” Kya joked. “What’s next?”

“Porkchicken stirfry with peanuts…potstickers…plum sauce…” Lin said, and her stomach growled, to make her point.

“Hungry _again_?”

Lin headed down to the galley, and came back with some fruit. It would have to do, until they chose a destination.

“What’s the point of a vacation? Sightseeing, relaxing, and food!”

“Well, I can think of a couple of other things,” Kya remarked dryly.

“You are _insatiable_!”

“Me? What about you?”

“What about me? I’m just trying to keep up with you!”

“Aww…come over here, you!” Kya said, her eyes bright.

“See what I mean?” Lin laughed. “You can’t keep your hands off me.”

“No way. I could, if I wanted to. It would drive _you_ crazy, though.”

“Wanna bet?”

“Oh, we have a challenge, do we?” Kya smirked. “If you lose, you have to…”

Lin looked uncertain. “Eat sea prunes?”

“No, no, no. Too easy. How about…?” Kya’s eyes twinkled, and she raised an eyebrow.

“What’s that look? What did you have in mind?”

“The loser has to do whatever the winner says for the rest of the night.”

“Oh… OH! well then…aha… challenge accepted.” Lin blushed, which she’d nearly overcome in the time she’d known Kya. They were comfortable with each other, but there were still a few things she’d imagined doing together that she hadn’t suggested yet.

“Are you blushing?” Kya teased. “I’m halfway to winning right now.” Her laugh was intoxicating, and Lin nearly gave in then and there.

_Get a grip, Beifong. You can win this one… and the prize will be worth it._

“Herm,” she said, clearing her throat. “We’ll see about that, Miz Kya.”

“So let’s shake on it.”

Lin extended her hand, and Kya shook it firmly, adding, “We’re on! Now… that’s the last time you get to touch me until you lose.”

“You mean until _you_ lose.”

“Dream on, Lin.”

Lin’s mind was whirling with possibilities, but that was dangerous, because the more she imagined what she was going to require of Kya, the closer she would be to losing the game. It was already hard to resist reaching out for her.

Kya, meanwhile, was glad that she was standing at the rudder; it was keeping her upright. Her knees were weak. Thoughts of the two of them together, doing whatever she dreamed up… desire pounded through her.

 _There’s no real loser in this game,_ _but oh spirits! Wouldn't it be great to win?_

"I'm… I'm just going to sit over here, up at the bow, and read my book." Lin said, huskily.

"Yeah. Yeah. You do that." Kya agreed, relieved.

The first short while wasn't bad. Kya went back to paying attention to their heading and the winds. They were sailing past an Earthbender army base on their left, headed southward. The giant walls of the base gleamed golden in the midday sun.

The rocking of the boat soothed her mind. Somewhat. While Lin was seated at the bow, she couldn't see her behind the sails, but she knew she was there. Usually she sat nearby, always right there, close enough to touch. This was so odd, to have her sit so far away, out of sight… and yet, close enough to just go over there, and kiss her, and undress her…

 _NO_ she warned herself. _You have to be strong… because if you don't, you won't get to try those things you always wanted to try… Okay, okay… what direction were we going?_

Lin's book was suddenly the driest, dullest piece of prose she'd ever struggled to read. She re-read the same paragraph three times before putting the book down and taking a breath to clear her mind. She closed her eyes and put her face forward, feeling the sea spray from the bow. It cooled her flushed cheeks.

Why was it like this? Just because now she couldn’t, she wanted to all the more? She honestly had believed that it would be no big deal to spend a while not in contact with Kya. They were apart from each other all the time, while they were sailing or camping or hiking. Weren't they? She thought about it. They did hold hands often… and they kissed, little pecks on the cheek… frequently… and they brushed by each other in the cabin, or touched when they switched places at the rudder. And they slept next to each other, touching…everywhere…

Each memory of the times they did touch made Lin want to go and sweep her off her feet again and make love to her, right there in the middle of the day. She was fighting a pull that was stronger than she was… she just hoped Kya was feeling that same pull, and that she'd give in first.

_Think about… snow. No, Kya bends snow. Damn, she's so sexy when she goes through those forms… STOP! NO! Think about… rocks. Yeah. Big rocks. Big yellow rocks. Big dull yellow rocks, like that Earthbender base over there. Big old rocks._

She put the book directly in front of her face, and started to mouth the words as she read them.

Somehow, slowly, the afternoon was passing. Kya grew tired, standing at the rudder, and she needed a break. She called out.

"Lin? Can you take the rudder, please?"

"Yes, of course, dear." She stood, and shook the stiffness out of her knees. She'd been in that position for a long while now, not daring to move and look at Kya.

Kya kept her eyes off to the side of the ship, also trying not to look at Lin. She came around the sail and the mast, up across the top of the cabin, and over to the rudder.

As though picking up a scorpion, Lin gingerly gripped the handle, making sure to keep her fingers away from Kya's hand. Kya moved to get out of her way, and she made an exaggerated lean off to the side to avoid brushing hips. For a second they locked eyes and froze, and both held their breath before blushing hard and moving away.

Kya started to giggle.

"It isn't easy, is it?" Lin said, exasperated.

"Oh spirits no!" Kya agreed. "I can't believe how much I want…”

"You…want...what?"

"Oh, never mind." Kya struggled. "Never mind."

"Close call there, sweetheart."

"You're a crafty one, Chief."

Lin shrugged. "Gotta play hard if you want to win," she said.

"Oh, don't you worry, honey. I've got your number."

"Well call me when you're ready to give up."

"No need, my love," Kya said. "You'll break like flint, soon enough."

They smiled sweetly throughout this exchange, and each hoped desperately that the other would break soon. The game was definitely on.

Lin shook her head to clear it, and set her feet firmly, resolute on keeping the boat going the right way. But she could maybe handle some conversation, couldn't she?

"How far do you want to sail today?" she asked.

Kya was grateful for the innocent question. "We're past the Earth Army base, and we'll begin to turn eastward if we keep along the coast. Do you want to go to the Swamp and visit your mother?"

Lin groaned. Mother. "Do we have to?"

"We ought to."

"Ought to is not 'have to'."

"Lin, she's your mother! I thought you patched up your differences!"

"Have you met my mother yet?"

"Well, no…"

"I don't know how to prepare you for her. She doesn't hold back, at all."

"What could she possibly say that would be so bad?"

"Just because you can't imagine it doesn't mean she can't. She called your father 'Twinkletoes' his whole life. And then she called Korra that too!"

"'Twinkletoes' is cute!"

"Ha! Cute!" Lin rubbed her face with a hand, trying to explain. "She knows things. You know how I can tell what's in a building by the vibrations?"

"Yes. It's amazing."

"She claims she can see everything Suyin and I do _from the Swamp._ Think about that. Everything."

Kya's face paled. "Ohhhh…" She grimaced.

“I’m always hoping she's paying attention to something else when we…Nope. I don't want to think about it."

"Me neither. Well. That's awkward."

"So. Do we have to?"

"I still think it's the right thing to do."

"Ugh, Kya!" Lin complained.

"Oh, come on, baby," she said, and moved toward Lin, arms open, to comfort her. She was nearly there when she realized what she was doing.

"Oops! Almost forgot!" She stepped back.

Lin too had nearly forgotten herself, and was suddenly back in the game with avengeance. "Uh oh! You're starting to crack!" she laughed wickedly.

"You watch yourself, Beifong," Kya said, amused but chagrined. "Don't think I didn't see you almost lose it there."

"You talk a good game, but you haven't won yet."

Kya was losing the moment. She grunted. "I'm going to go nap in the bunk. Join me when you're ready to concede defeat."

"Never!" Lin crowed.

"I won't be wearing anything."

"Fine! Just fine! Just dandy! Just… dandy."

Kya went below. As she was about to step out of view, she leaned over, looked at Lin, and waved.

"You're cruel," Lin called, laughing.

"Muhuahahahaha!"

This was a fun game, but it was pure torture too.

But now Kya was below, and she could go back to thinking about sailing, and… Mother. Oh, spirits. How was that going to go? There was no way that she would deny Kya the opportunity to see her, if that was what she wanted; and she knew in her heart it was a chance to tell Mother how happy she was, that her life had taken this wonderful turn. She hoped her mother would take it well, but she was afraid. Mother was unpredictable, but she was rarely gentle.

There was no way over or around _this_ mountain, she feared. The only way was through. She hoped it wouldn't fall on them like a million tons of stone.

* * *

 

Evening was coming on, and the sun reddened the sky. Kya rose from her nap and came back to the deck to resume her place at the rudder. The map showed a village, across another inlet before the large land mass to the south. Off the land mass was Kyoshi Island, and they agreed to visit there, and then onward to Gaoling, where the old Beifong estate had been.

Then south again, to a chain of large islands, including Whaletail Island, and one where the Southern Air temple was located. They would pass through these.

And then they would come to the South Pole. Lin looked over Kya's shoulder, carefully keeping a distance, and felt sadness and dread. The South Pole was the end of their journey and their time together, and she wasn't sure how she was going to be able to leave her there.

At that moment, she wanted to hold Kya so badly her chest hurt. But this time she refrained because she couldn't bear to even talk about it. Were she to touch her, Kya would ask why.

She stood and went back to her seat on the bow. She tried not to think about that. Instead, she remembered why she’d gone back inside the Cave of Two Lovers. She went below and set to work on an idea she’d had.

Kya sailed on, to the town on the mouth of the river leading northeast to the Swamp. They moored at a modern pier. This town was able to offer them comforts they hadn’t had in several days. A restaurant in the downtown served the porkchicken and peanuts that Lin had been craving, and prawns for Kya. There was music playing in the restaurant. Kya itched to dance with Lin, but no, no… that wasn’t going to happen. Their hands and fingers fidgeted, unused to being kept to themselves. More than once Lin caught herself reaching across the table, and pulling back at the last second. She didn’t see Kya’s feet shuffling back and forth as she made an effort not to play footsie.

And they had electric lights, which was surprisingly comforting after days in the rough. As they walked through the streets of town, they clenched fists, trying not to grasp the other’s hand. The storefronts were colorful and brightly lit.

Finally, they found a hotel and booked a room, but Kya made sure it had separate beds.

“Cruel.” Lin said, out of earshot of the concierge. They headed up to the room.

“I’m playing to win, now.”

“Play however you like, dear. You want me so badly you can hardly walk straight.”

She didn’t deny it, because it was painfully true. She tried a different strategy. They went into the elevator, she leaned in close, and whispered, “You’re right. I wish you and I were up there in the bed right this minute, with my lips touching every inch of your luscious body. I’m so ready I can’t stand it.”

Lin flushed. “That’s just mean,” she laughed nervously.

“Just telling you the truth, Ma’am.”

Lin was losing her edge. The picture in her mind’s eye was driving her crazy. She couldn’t suppress memories of times Kya had done just what she’d said, starting that electric feeling in her stomach, and heat below.

“Yeah… well…” she had no comeback.

“Ready to admit defeat? All it takes is a single touch.”

 _AGH she’s winning!!_ “No. No!” she smiled sweetly at Kya. Two could play at that game, she supposed. “I’m just remembering the last time you did that very thing. Do you remember how that ended?”

Of course Kya did… Lin had called out her name… _Kya, oh oh oh oh KYAAAAA!_

“Umff…” Kya hunched as though hit in the stomach. The elevator doors opened, and there was a pudgy man waiting for them to exit. They were standing closer to each other than they’d realized, face to face, and he looked at them with a lifted eyebrow, as first Kya and then Lin emerged into the hallway.

Lin nearly hopped down the hallway to the room. She stuffed the key in the lock and pushed it open. Somehow she had to turn the tide and end this game, because she wasn't sure how much more she could take. She dropped her bag and went into the bathroom to splash her face with cold water, struggling to get control over her desire.

Kya arrived a few seconds after, catching the door with her foot. Her bags hit the floor at the foot of the bed closest to the window. She had to pull a fast one… it was time for a power move. She hoped she could pull it off.

When Lin came out of the bathroom, the lights were off. Standing by the window, silhouetted in the glow from the street, Kya stood, unclothed. She was moving through her waterbending forms.

Every last bit of Lin’s resolve evaporated. As if being pushed by an invisible hand, Lin moved toward her. It was just as easy to lose as to win in this game, and what was so wrong in letting Kya win, really? She was eager to see what her lover had in mind.

Standing just centimeters away, she whispered into Kya’s ear, “You win.”

Kya, delighted, whirled and threw her arms around Lin. “I do?”… and then realized that she’d just blown it.

They both laughed until they could barely breathe. With great relief, Lin wrapped her in her arms and kissed her throat up and down. Kya scrabbled at all the catches of Lin’s clothing with desperate hands.

In a minute they lay on the narrow bed, entwined, hungrily kissing, hands and legs making up for all the touching they’d denied themselves all day. The tension had broken, and they were pouring themselves out, one for the other.

“Here, let’s try this,” Lin said shakily, and turned, and put one leg over Kya’s, so that she was angled crosswise to her. Kya lifted her hips to meet Lin’s, and they moved against each other, their buds touching, mingling their wetness. The effect was magical.

“You… you’re… you’re…” Kya said breathlessly.

Lin couldn’t speak, but this wasn’t how she wanted to finish… it was just an experiment they could complete later. This night was hers. She pulled away before she went too far.

Kya groaned her disappointment, but Lin caught her breath and asked, “Anything I want?”

Kya turned her face to Lin and looked her straight in the eye. “Anything,” she promised, her smile one of love and trust.

Lin kissed her again, quickly. She got up off the bed and went to her bag, digging in it. She pulled out a length of silk.

Kya was intrigued. “What’s that for?”

“Well…” Lin said, shyly, “I have this thing I’ve wanted to try. But I’ve been too nervous to ask you about it.”

“You? Nervous? With me?” Kya was astonished.

“Well, you know… I didn’t know what you’d think.” She turned and wrapped the silk in a band around her thighs, and then around her waist. She tied it off at her hip. “I found it in a shipment of contraband from the Fire Nation. It was called a ‘harigata’. I couldn’t keep it, because it was evidence, but I… well… I made one of my own.”

Kya looked at Lin with genuine surprise. “Lin! I can’t believe it! Well, I mean, I can believe it, but I wouldn’t have guessed in a million years!”

“So you know about them?”

“I know about them, but I never used one…”

Lin was pleasantly surprised. “Really? You? Never?”

Kya seemed embarrassed. “I never stayed around anybody long enough to experiment with it.”

Lin rejoined Kya on the bed. She lay beside her, put her arms around her, and kissed her slowly and gently. “Don’t worry about that. Do you trust me?”

“I trust you more than anyone.”

“I’m new at this too, so we’ll learn together.”

“Oh Lin. Do you know how much I love you?”

“I know,” she said, and they melted together in kisses again.

She rose, and took a piece of metal from her bag. It was a slightly curved cylinder, rounded at both ends. She handed it to Kya, who felt the texture. It was strangely warm and soft. Lin furrowed her brow just slightly, and the texture of the metal shifted, becoming slightly ribbed.

“Oh spirits, Lin! You can metalbend it!”

Lin bent the metal to form an attachment that she looped around the silk she’d tied to herself. She crawled onto the bed, in between Kya’s knees, and hovered over her.

“You said anything I wanted. But are you all right with this?”

Instead of answering, she raised her arms and put them around Lin, and pulled her down to kiss her again.

Lin broke it and offered a breast, and Kya caught the nipple with her lips. Lin moved atop her, and reached with one hand down to touch between her thighs. Gently stroking, she circled the clitoris and inner lips, and Kya responded by moving in time and arching into her touch. When she was soaking wet, Lin adjusted her position, and put the metal member just at the opening. She looked Kya in the eyes, and whispered, “Ready?”

Kya nodded.

Slowly and gently, Lin moved her hips to push inside. At first, Kya’s eyes widened, and then closed as she felt herself filled with the hard metal. It was so strangely warm. She moved again, and it withdrew, and she plunged in again, slowly.

It was like fingers, but different. It was a new sensation to her. Again and again Lin moved in and out, and she could feel the pressure building… the motion of Lin’s body against hers, and the feeling of fullness. She opened her eyes, and Lin was reading her, carefully watching, concerned that she was enjoying this. It was an indirect touch, but she could feel herself coming toward that peak again. Lin shifted her knees forward, the angle changed slightly, and now she could feel much more direct pressure, and her pleasure started to spike.

“More,” she breathed, “harder.” Lin complied.

This was such a different feeling than she’d ever had before. She was near orgasm, but it was like slow motion; and when it did happen, and her inner muscles gripped, there was a solidity there. She spasmed again and again, clinging to Lin, holding on for dear life.

Lin slowed her motion, and then paused. She let Kya relax below her, and then slowly pulled away, onto her side.

“Was that all right?”

“That.. yes… hoooo… yes. That was all right.”

Lin lay back, satisfied. What better thing was there, than to make your lover feel so good?

A moment or two passed, warm and comfortable. “You gotta try that,” Kya said.

“I hope so,” Lin replied. “That’s part of ‘anything I want’.”

“That was a tough game we played today. I don’t know what I think about it.”

“It was difficult, you’re right. I wanted you more than usual, which is saying something. It made me realize how often we do touch one another.”

“We do.”

“It makes sense, considering how much we love one another,” Lin said, matter-of-factly.

There were no more words to say. Kya took the harigata from Lin, and untied the silk belt from her. She wrapped it around herself. This was what Lin wanted, and she’d won the game, fair and square. She could not have been happier about losing.

 


	9. Roots and Vines

“I didn’t think it would… smell… quite like this,” Lin remarked.

“It’s weird, isn’t it? Like, musky. Like freshly turned earth, in a farmer’s field… but something else too.”

Lin and Kya had come to the Swamp, after hitching a ride to the northeast along the coastline. They started hiking when they reached the marshes where the river met the ocean. The great green mass of swamp forest lay before them, and they could just see the top of the vast tree at the Swamp’s center, in the banyan grove.

“How do we find your mom in all this?”

“I’m not sure, exactly, but I’m fairly sure she knows we’re on the way. Maybe she’ll find us.”

“Head to that big tree and wait?”

“It _is_ the center. Korra was able to find the airbender kids just by putting her hand on one of the roots. And she told me that when she got the poison metal out of her system, she stayed with Mom in a place she had in the roots of a tree that wasn’t very far from it.”

“You said Mom.”

“What?”

“Usually you say ‘Mother’, but now you’ve said ‘Mom’.”

“I’m… nervous. I feel like a stupid teenager.”

“I understand that. I am too. But she _is_  your mom. It’s okay.”

“It’s been a long while since I saw her last. I’ve been thinking about it. You were right. We did patch things up. All she asked was that Su and I didn’t hate her.”

“You don’t hate her, do you?”

“We didn’t resolve a lot of things, but maybe it’s just best that we leave all that behind.”

Kya didn’t answer, but it troubled her that Lin didn’t say no. She couldn’t imagine having such a poor relationship with her mother. Katara and she had always been… were still close. They talked about everything, including her relationship with Lin. How could you not love your own mother? She knew what had happened between them; she knew Toph’s parenting was very different from her own. Still, seeing it and knowing how it felt were not the same.

Sometimes it was hard for Kya to resolve the reputation Lin had in Republic City with the woman she knew. To her, Lin was thoughtful, loving, kind and gentle. To everyone else she was tough and hard to please. She’d seen Lin fight… it was something to behold. She’d seen her in her office, managing the police officers… she was strict but fair. Maybe things before Kya had come back to Republic City were different, but for her, now, Lin was just a soft heart getting by in a hard world.

She hoped this visit would not be too hard on her.

They passed through dark, damp woods, walking along the tops of giant roots emerging from and descending into the murky water. Moss and vines hung in large ropes. The air was warm and stagnant, and occasionally there were swarms of tiny bugs that got into their clothes. Why would Toph live here? It was eerily quiet, as though many eyes were upon them. Kya was usually attuned to spiritual things, but right now she just felt unease.

Katara and Aang had told their children the story of the time they first came to the great Swamp, and about the visions they and Sokka had had. It seemed fantastic, like something from a book. “People they’d lost, people they’d loved…” Sokka had seen Princess Yue, whom he’d loved; Katara had seen her mother, after whom Kya was named. But Aang had seen a vision of the Beifong flying boar, and soon after met Toph.

Kya wondered aloud, “Do you think we’ll have visions here?”

“You _are_ a vision. Does that count?”

“Smooth, Lin… but this place really does _not_ put me in the mood.”

“I don’t know. The Avatars had them here; maybe?”

“And my mom did too. And Sokka.”

“I guess it’s possible. Might be nice to have a glimpse of the future.”

“Or of the past. It could be uncomfortable.”

Lin didn’t know what to say to that. She looked at Kya and shrugged. There was certainly an uncomfortable feeling they both had, just being there.

After a half day’s journey into the woods they stopped to rest a while. It was too damp to think about making a fire, and a little too early to camp, so they sat together under a tree on a dry spot, Lin taking refuge under Kya’s arm this time. They dozed off in the heat.

When she woke, seemingly moments later, Kya was alone. She looked about, and saw no one near her. She called out for Lin, but her voice was small and the air seemed to wrap it in cotton. It was silly to worry, though. She probably just went off a little way to answer nature’s call, and would be right back. The Foggy Swamp waterbenders were less isolated than they’d been in Mom’s time, so seeing a stranger there would be no big deal, and they’d bring her back if she’d got disoriented.

It was certainly easy to get disoriented here, she thought. All the vines looked the same, there were no real paths, except for the giant roots, and they twisted and turned in every direction. She wasn’t even really sure they were still headed toward the banyan grove. They might have been walking in circles for hours.

But where was Lin, now? It was taking her a rather long time to get back. Kya was reluctant to get up and look for her, lest she get lost herself.

As her anxiety grew, the woods around her seemed to close in and the light became odd. It was hazy, as though a mist were rising, but she felt no coolness from it. She heard a rustling, and was relieved, but Lin didn’t step back into the place where she was. Instead, the rustling continued.

Kya stood up, and went over to where she heard the sounds. She pushed aside the branches of a bush, and there stood Dís. In her hand was a betrothal necklace.

Dís…why here, why now? Her heartbreak, so raw and awful, as Dís left her without a word? What was she telling her now, all these years later?

* * *

 

A young Kya was in the midst of the crowd of her friends. They had come giggling and teasing each other as they pushed their way through the crowd past the bar, ready to drink and dance all night. The music was loud and brassy from the band, and the lights were low. Eight of them took a table at the side of the ballroom, pointing and laughing. It was a hot crowd.

One round of drinks, and then two, and then a few of them were exchanging looks with good looking guys at the bar. Whispering and more giggling, and a few free drinks arrived. More looks exchanged, and then a brave young earthbending fellow came up to one and asked her to dance. Then more, and then there were only three of the girls on their night out left at the table. They laughed like hyenas at their companions, who were fluttering their eyes and acting like fools for the benefit of these men. Kya had gracefully turned down one boy, who immediately took the girl next to her by the hand and led her out to the dance floor.

“Look at that one there,” Miyuki pointed and laughed. “No, over there! That sad sack on the end of the bar. Why don’t you ask him to dance, Kya?”

Ji Su, on her other side, snickered evilly. “I dare you,” she said.

There was a heavyset, dark man in a Northern Water Tribe parka hunched over the bar, drinking alone. He looked like he wanted to be left alone.

Kya felt an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach. She was so young, and these friends of hers didn’t yet know that she wasn’t interested in the boys, never mind the men. She just wanted to fit in tonight. Indeed, she had wished that Chinhua, who’d invited her along, had not taken the boy’s hand when Kya had turned him down. She would have preferred to dance with her. She’d had some interesting vibes from Chinhua, odd glances, strange comments. She was wondering about her.

These two girls, Miyuki and Ji Su, weren’t particularly kind. They loved to laugh at others’ discomfort, poking fun at anyone who wasn’t dressed well enough or who looked slightly less than perfect. She didn’t know them well enough to call them on it, not yet. It was hard enough being the Avatar’s daughter; she just wanted to be Kya for a while, and have some friends like other girls did.

This was awkward. If she said yes, she'd have to go talk to a strange man at a bar, which was kind of scary; but if she said no, she would be teased unmercifully for the rest of the night.

Maybe cheering up a sad guy at the bar would be better... she hadn't wanted to go out at all tonight, once she’d heard Miyuki and Ji Su were part of the group, but Mom and Dad had encouraged her. "Counter their negativity," Dad had said. "You can help balance them out. Be a good example for those girls, and bring a little light into the world for somebody."

"Who knows?" Mom added, "maybe you'll make a new friend."

So Kya steeled herself, and turning her nose up at the two snickering young ladies, got up and went over to the bar.

"Hi! I'm Kya! What's your name?" She said cheerfully, as she sat next to him.

"I don't need your damn pity," the woman growled, without looking up at her.

Kya was horrified at her blunder. The parka had obscured the shape of her body, and from behind she hadn't seen the face of the Water Tribe woman.

"I'm sorry, so sorry," she said immediately. "I didn't mean to bother you. I just wanted to cheer you up."

The woman grunted.

Kya, deeply confused, went back to the table with the other two girls. The song had changed, and the boys had sought new partners, so now Chinhua and Ji Su were there. Ji Su wasn't so bad when she was separated from Miyuki, but she still laughed at Kya's crestfallen face.

“Turned down by the fat guy? Shoulda danced with the one who asked you before!"

"Put a cork in it, Ji Su," Chinhua said. "Who's on _your_ dance card?"

Ji Su sullenly sipped at her drink.

"She didn't want anyone to talk to her, I guess," Kya said.

Ji Su snorted her drink through her nose. "She?"

Chinhua frowned. "What's your problem?"

"It looks like a guy!"

Chinhua looked at Ji Su with disgust. "Come on," she said to Kya, and taking her hand led her back to the bar.

Chinhua sat on one side, and she gestured for Kya to sit on the other. They waited for the woman to acknowledge them.

"Whaddya want?" she grumbled.

"Somebody to talk to," Chinhua said. "The girls we came with are boring as hell."

The woman snorted and smiled a little to herself.

"Seriously!" Chinhua insisted. "Teenage girls are dull as dishwater."

"What makes you think I want to talk to you, then?"

"See, Kya? I told ya she was sharp!"

Kya admired Chinhua's skill in drawing out the woman.

"Because we're special," Chinhua went on. "We aren't satisfied with those boys out there like the girls we came with are. We're looking for some _intelligent_ conversation."

"Really," the woman said, starting to be amused.

"Really! I don't suppose you know of any other places around town where a couple of young ladies like us might find more interesting company?"

The woman smiled again, still looking at her drink. Then she sat up straight and looked Chinhua up and down. Chinhua was short, plump and all smiles, with sparkling eyes and shining straight black hair. She narrowed her eyes and looked at the young woman more closely. Then she turned to Kya and looked her over. Kya shifted slightly, catching the woman's blue eyes, and felt a blush rising in her cheeks, as though the woman were reading right through her.

"Yeah, all right," the woman said, getting up off her barstool. "Call me Dís."

"Nice to meet you, Dís," Chinhua said.

"And Kya, right?"

"Yes," Kya said, feeling oddly shy.

The three women paid their bar bill and left, and as she went out the door, she noticed Miyuki and Ji Su whispering to each other and the other girls looking at them quizzically.

As they walked through the winter night through the Republic City streets, Kya was grateful that Chinhua had planned an escape for them, but she wondered about this woman they'd befriended, and where she was taking them.

"So where is it we're going?" she asked, after a couple of blocks.

"My cousin owns a little club not too far from here. It's a private ladies' club, and there's plenty of intelligent conversation there."

Chinhua shot a grin to Kya that she couldn't quite read, but the way her eyes were twinkling she was curious to find out. They followed the older woman for several more blocks, until she took them down a stairwell to a basement door. She knocked, and when a small window opened, she said, in a low voice, "Kyoshi is home."

The door opened and let the three of them in. It was warm and dimly lit, and there were people at the bar and at the tables... no... just women at the bar. And the tables had no men either. Chinhua looked at Kya with a crooked grin, and winked.

Kya was surprised and pleased that she’d guessed about Chinhua correctly. They took a table and ordered drinks, and talked about all manner of things for the rest of the evening. Dís' mood was greatly improved, and she told them stories about fishing the seas of the north.

Late that night, Kya and Chinhua told Dís that they needed to get home, because Kya's father was the Avatar and had expected her by a certain hour. Dís was surprised, but she let them go with kisses on the cheeks and promises to see her again.

This wasn't true, of course, because Chinhua took Kya to a rented room and they spent the night together. Sweet and awkward, they stumbled through their first eager kisses and let youth and curiosity drive the rest.

Kya was smitten. Chinhua had a job as a typist, so she couldn’t see her most days, but on the weekends she met her with the other girls. Occasionally, when Miyuki and Ji Su weren’t paying attention, they might slip off away together. Kya felt like it was never enough, and she complained to Chinhua about it one evening, begging to go back to the club where Dís waited for them.

They got into an argument about it; Chinhua told her that there was no future for the two of them. She intended to find a man and that would be that. She’d get married and have children and that would be the end of it. This was for fun, to get it out of her system, she said. Kya was pretty and nice and all, but she wasn’t going to end up like one of those dumpy old women like Dís, alone and unhappy.

Kya was devastated. She had no one to talk to about it; she was afraid what her parents would think, and the other girls were already seeming to laugh behind their hands at her.

She went alone that evening to the club. She used the password she’d heard Dís use, and was let in. Dís was there, at the end of the bar, and when she saw Kya she had a big smile, until she saw the tears in her eyes.

They sat together in the back at a table, almost in the dark.

“I’m so sorry,” Kya said, sobbing.

“She broke your heart, didn’t she?” Dís asked, her voice soft.

Kya nodded.

“Young girls do come and go,” Dís said. “It’s hard to find one that wants to stay. The world’s a big place, and there’s an awful lot to see.”

“But I loved her!” Kya protested.

“No, you didn’t, honey,” Dís said. “You loved how she made you feel.”

Kya wept. Dís enfolded her in her arms, and let her weep, and she cried until she could not find more tears.

Without a word, Dís took her back to the Air Temple that night, and went home alone.

The next night, Kya sought her out again at the club, and the night after, and the night after. At first, she shared her pain about Chinhua. Dís listened and held her hands as Kya struggled to understand what had happened. Dís explained that it really wasn’t about Kya; Chinhua had her plans and ideas, and so did Kya. They just weren’t the same plans. Then they talked about what Kya did hope to do with her life, and she listened with a gentle expression as Kya told her about wanting to be someone other than just “the Avatar’s daughter.”

“What you do, you take what you can get, when you can get it. You try not to hurt anybody. You make some good memories to get you by when you get old. Right now, you’re too young to worry about that. See the world. Figure out what makes you happy. Maybe you’ll get lucky, like your mom and dad. But if you don’t find it, at least you’ll have all those memories.”

Then Kya asked what Dís wanted from life. Oh, she was too old now, and too ugly. But Kya argued with her; she was not ugly. She was beautiful on the inside. Ah, but who cared about that, Dís asked?

She had looked Dís in the eyes. They were sad but searching. She leaned toward her and kissed her. It was so much different from Chinhua, and intoxicating. Chinhua was cute and fun, but Dís cared about her.

They left together; Dís took her to a boat tied at the docks. They went onboard and sailed out into the water between Republic City and Air Temple Island. In the moonlight, Dís kissed her in return, and they lay in the bottom of the boat, under Dís’ arm, Kya’s head on her shoulder, watching the moon. It was utterly different from the giggling experiments with Chinhua, and Kya understood that this meant much more.

Dís went no further with her than this. As the night wore on, she returned Kya to Air Temple Island, and with a kiss goodnight left her there.

This happened many nights afterward; when it was cloudy, they went to Dís’ apartment and Kya would read to her from a book. When it was snowing, they would play in the snow. Kya bent great sculptures for her, of animals and spirits.

But every night would end the same. After spending a lovely time together, Dís would kiss her, sometimes gently, sometimes fiercely and with hunger, but never go further. Kya wanted more, but Dís would always say, “I can’t take your future from you.”

Finally Kya said to her, “Don’t you want me? Why won’t you go any further? What if you are my future?”

“I can’t be, Kya. I do want you. But I can’t be your future.” And then she took Kya’s hand, and held it to her breast. Kya felt a hard lump there.

“My mother’s Katara! My mother’s the best healer in the world!” Kya cried, terrified.

“I know she is. I’ve been to see her. Even she can’t stop death.”

Kya’s heart broke again, but deeper than she ever dreamed. This woman, so beautiful at heart, she knew now that she loved her. They wept together through the night.

When Dís took her home in the morning, she said to her, “You don’t know what joy you’ve brought me.”

Kya couldn’t see for the tears, but she held her tight, not wanting ever to let go. She promised to be there at the club again that evening, and Dís smiled at her. They kissed goodnight in the first rays of the sunrise over the mountains.

That night, when Kya arrived, the club was somber. Dread filled her. She sat at their table in the back, and waited for Dís to arrive, but she didn’t. After more than an hour, Dís’ cousin, who owned the club, came and sat with Kya, and handed her a box of inlaid wood, in the Northern Water Tribe style.

“She asked me to give this to you.”

In the box was a betrothal necklace, with a carving of the moon.

She knew then that she would not see Dís again. And when she went back to the pier, Dís’ boat was gone.

She took a ferry back to the Island, and told her mother that Dís had left. Katara, now understanding everything, held her throughout that night and the nights to come, rocking her daughter as she grieved the first real loss of her life.

* * *

 

Lin got up to relieve herself a few meters from the clearing, as Kya had thought. But somehow she found, when she got herself organized again, that things looked totally different. The trees didn’t look like the ones she’d come through just moments ago. Suddenly she was anxious… how could she have become lost so easily?

She stomped the ground to read the vibrations to see where Kya was. Surely she was a no more than a little way off. But the vibrations seemed to fuzz out a few paces away, clogged by roots and vines and water.

She tried not to panic. She called out for Kya, but heard nothing.

Making a guess, she went back the way she thought she’d come, brushing aside a bush next to the large tree she and Kya had dozed against.

It was the right clearing, but Kya was not there. Instead, where she had been sleeping, she saw a mother and two small children, dirty and emaciated. They looked at her with enormous, empty eyes. She stepped toward them, and they toward her, with their hands rising to touch her. Behind her was the sound of heavy footfalls. She turned and saw a great dark spirit, its arms raised threateningly. She dropped her stance and flung a boulder at it, but it passed right through. She turned to tell the family to run and hide, but when she looked back, the mother and children were no longer there. She was alone. The spirit had also vanished.

She stood, helpless, for a moment, at a loss. Then she was overcome with a sense of guilt; she should have done more!

Lin dropped to her knees and wept.

Kya found her like this, kneeling in the mud near the clearing, when she heard Lin’s sobs. She herself had eyes red and puffy from crying. She rushed to her, and when Lin saw that it was Kya, she flung herself into Kya’s arms, and they held each other close as they let the tears flow.

* * *

 

The swamp was beginning to get dark, but curiously they found the going much easier after their visions, and finding Toph’s place was not difficult at all. There was a glowing fire under the tree where she lived.

“Hi Chief,” Lin said, as they came close.

“Hello Lin. Hi Kya.” She stirred at a pot over the fire.

“How’ve you been?” Lin asked.

“Not bad.”

Kya shuffled her feet awkwardly.

“Well, come on and sit down. Dinner’s just about done."

They went inside and sat on the smoothed roots of the giant tree that sheltered them.

“How’s your mother?” Toph asked Kya.

“She’s… really good. I’m on my way back to the South Pole. Can’t wait to see her.”

“Mmm hmm.”

Kya looked at Lin helplessly. She hadn’t felt this discomfited in years. Lin shrugged.

“I’m not gonna bite you,” Toph said. “Either you think I’m going to embarrass you, or you think I’m going to insult you, but whatever. You do you.”

“Mom…”

“Had a rough afternoon?” Toph, as usual, had cut right to the heart of the matter.

“We had visions.”

“People do.”

“I saw a mother and two children, starving, and a big dark spirit coming for them. And then I felt this horrible feeling that I was supposed to save them.”

“Huh.”

“But I didn’t save them. They vanished.”

“Well, they were just visions. That’s the Swamp for ya.”

“Do you know what it means?”

“Me? No. I’m no Avatar. You’re gonna have to figure this out on your own.” Toph sighed. “Why does everyone who comes here think I’m some kind of guru?”

There seemed no good answer to this, so she went back to stirring her stew.

“Anyway, Mom… we’re here to…”

“Look, I know you guys are a thing now. Congratulations.”

“Oh…well, okay. Thanks, Mom.” Lin shot another look at Kya.

“I don’t know what you’re so afraid of. I’m happy for you.”

“We didn’t know what you’d think.”

“You do now. Relax. Su’s happy, and you’re happy. That’s what a mom wants for her kids. You’re doing okay.”

Lin’s shoulders, which had been tight throughout the conversation, started to lower. She got up and helped her mother dish up the stew.

“There you go. Don’t worry. I won’t tell any embarrassing kid stories about you. Kya already knows them all already, don’t you?”

“Well, ah… a few, I guess.”

“Nah, she’s good for you, Lin. She’s like her mom. Katara was kind of a mother hen, but that wasn’t always bad. And she’s got enough of Twinkletoes in her to keep her from being a complete wet blanket.”

Lin smirked at Kya at this, and Kya’s mouth opened and shut a few times. She couldn’t disagree. Finally she burst out in laughter. Then they all did.

“Why didn’t you marry, Toph?” Kya asked, finally. Lin’s eyes were horrified.

“Not my thing, I guess.” She shrugged, exactly as Lin had done. “Didn’t need it. Never been lonely. I had work, I had the kids; that was a lot to handle. A few guys… but eh. I just don’t do the mushy stuff.”

Then Toph asked, “What are you going to do after you get back to the South Pole?”

Lin’s face paled.

Kya answered, “We haven’t figured that out yet. Mom’s still there, and I don’t know if she’d want to move again. She loves her Tribe.”

“You going to retire from the force?” she asked Lin.

“I don’t know anymore. I don’t want to, but…” she looked at Kya, whose eyes were downcast.

“You’re gonna have to work it out one way or another. Otherwise it’s gonna suck eggs for both of you.”

“I know, Mom.”

“Well, you don’t have too much time to be wishy-washy about it.”

“I _know,_ Mom.”

“There are always options. Doesn’t have to be either-or. You do have a little while yet. Maybe something will come up.”

They ate in silence for the rest of the meal. Afterward, Toph stretched and yawned. “That was a great soup. I love those slimy mushrooms.”

“In case you were worrying,” she added, “I can see what’s up with you through the spirit vines, but they don’t show me _everything…_ ” She chuckled.

Lin blushed crimson, and Kya laughed out loud.

Toph said, “Oh, come on Lin! Lighten up! We’re all adults here! What are you, fourteen?”

Lin pinched the bridge of her nose, but finally could not help but smile. “Hardly.”

“I’m an old lady, but I’m not an idiot. Go off and have your fun. Bring back something for breakfast, if you find anything. The banyan tree is off that way,” she waved in the direction of the center of the Swamp.

She wandered toward the bed she had back in the recesses of the tree roots, and settled down to sleep.

Lin and Kya took that as an invitation to go off on their own, which they did, gratefully. They went in the direction Toph had indicated, and before long found themselves climbing larger and larger roots until they were up at the base of the enormous tree. Lin whistled at its girth.

It was black against the sky, which was a deep blue and full of stars. The view was extraordinary, and she wondered how her mother, who’d never seen stars, knew this would be such a marvelous place to take Kya. Her mom wasn’t the grumpy troll she’d suggested, and she felt a bit ashamed at the caricature she must have drawn in Kya’s mind.

“Your mom’s kind of amazing,” Kya said.

“I have to admit, she’s not what I’ve made her out to be.”

“Oh, no, you were pretty accurate,” Kya reassured her. “She’s got no filter. She says what she means, no more, no less.” She grinned. “It’s kind of refreshing, actually. You don’t have to wonder at all what she means.”

“I suppose not,” Lin laughed, and settled down into a space between the roots. Reaching for Kya’s hand, she pulled her down to sit in her lap. “I’m also very relieved about the spirit vines protecting our privacy,” she said, wrapping arms around her.

Kya leaned into Lin’s embrace, comfortable and safe. “I’m still not, uh, in the mood. You okay with that?”

“Absolutely. It’s still creepy.”

It was a warm night. It was a beautiful view. They were together. It was a good place to sleep.


	10. Night Sailing

They came back to Toph’s place in the morning with handfuls of fruit they’d found, like peaches but rather smaller.

“That’s it? That’s all you got? No nuts? No roots? Good thing you don’t live here… you’d starve in a week.”

They knew Toph was grousing just because she could, since she shortly had a starchy root dish going and used the fruits to sweeten it. Kya filled her water jars with fresh water, bending the swampy yuck away from it, and that earned her a half a smile.

“Off to the next thing, then. Kyoshi Island?” Toph asked, and then belched. She was in a decent mood. It was a good morning.

“That’s the plan,” Lin said.

“You better give her that thing in your pocket before it burns a hole in it,” she said to Lin.

Lin was aghast. “Mom!”

Kya smirked. She didn’t know anything about it, but now the secret was out. “Keeping the best secrets from me again, huh?” she said, playfully. “Can I see it?”

“Not yet. I was saving it for a special occasion. It was _supposed_ to be a surprise. Thanks a lot, Mom.”

“Anytime, Lin,” Toph said, as though she couldn’t detect the sarcasm. “But if you want my advice you should probably stop waiting around and just do what it is you plan to do. You kids waste an awful lot of time waiting for things to be special.”

Lin rolled her eyes. Mom was going to be right about everything today, too. That’s why she was in a good mood. ‘Sure thing, Mom.”

“Hey, you do what you want. I’m just saying. And you, you better just tell her what your vision was about. You’ll ruin the rest of your trip if you don’t.”

Kya was shocked. “Do you know what it meant?”

“How would I know? It was your vision, not mine. All I know is you’re jumpy as a cat and it’s going to have you at each other’s throats if you don’t work it out.”

“Uh… uh… okay? Thanks?”

“We should be on our way, Mom.” Lin stood, stiffly. She hadn’t wanted to come in the first place, but now she wasn’t quite sure how to say goodbye. It had gone much better with her mother than she could have imagined, and she was grateful.

“Is this the part where we have to hug?” Toph said, annoyed.

“No. Not if you don’t want to.” Lin was adrift. She didn’t know what to feel.

Kya, however, wouldn’t let it go that way. She went over to Toph and gave her a hug. Lin came and joined them. Suddenly, her face became pained.

“Sheesh Mom… take a bath.”

Toph laughed. “I love you too, Lin.”

When they pulled away, she said to Kya, “Tell your mom I said hi.”

“Of course I will.”

“Lin… I appreciate the visit.”

Lin’s throat tightened unexpectedly. “I… we…I appreciate the welcome, Mom.”

“Visit me again sometime. But bring something good with you, like that rock candy from Omashu. I haven’t had good jennamite in ages.”

“And soap. Thanks, Mom.”

And that was that. Toph strolled away, into the dark and hazy green.

* * *

They made their way back to the marshy place where their ride picked them up, as agreed, and they rode back to the port town quietly, trying to process the visit. There was definitely a lot to talk about; Kya’s vision had certainly shaken her badly, and Lin wanted to know what it was, but she wasn’t sure if the time was right to ask.

The thing in her pocket was indeed on her mind, and she fidgeted with it. When would be the right time to give it to her? Was Mom right about that, really? Was there no point in waiting? But here, in the back of a truck? Maybe not just yet. Maybe back aboard the ship? Or once they got to Kyoshi Island?

When they arrived at the dock it was early afternoon. There was time to get a few hours of sailing down the coast yet today before they would stop for the night. Lunch at the market first, then sails went up, Kya took the rudder, and they were off again.

“Did we dream that whole thing?” Kya said, finally, when they’d been on the water a long while.

“It does seem like it, doesn’t it?” Lin said. “But yes, it was real. I don’t understand my vision, still. What do you think?”

“On the surface it seems pretty obvious. What with Noma, and the plague in Omashu, you’ve come face-to-face with people who have suffered through no fault of their own. They were doing what they had to do to survive, and you sometimes feel helpless to do anything about it.”

“But so does that mean the vision was something I’ve done, or something that will happen in the future?”

“No idea. Had you ever seen the woman and her children before?”

“No. They didn’t look familiar.”

“And the spirit. Was there anything about it that struck you?”

“Besides that it was huge, dark and looked like it was going to shred me? No.”

“I really want to help ease your mind, but I haven’t got a clue, Lin. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. Maybe it will make sense later.”

“Maybe. But so… what about your vision? Do you want to tell me about it?”

Kya looked out across the sea, and she bit her lip, as though she wanted to but could not.

“Not yet? I can wait, Kya. It’s all right. When you’re ready, I want to help ease _your_ mind.”

Kya brought her eyes back to Lin’s. Of course she did, but Lin was right. She wasn’t ready yet. She thought of Dís every day when she put on the necklace, but sometimes it wasn’t for more than a moment. The memories had rested for all these years, as she’d come to accept her loss. She’d taken Dís’ advice and seen the world, and tried to learn what it was that she wanted from her life; she’d found happiness in many places, but never more so than with Lin.

And Lin hadn’t ever asked about her necklace. Perhaps she didn’t realize its significance. It occurred to her now that perhaps that was the message: Dís wanted her to give that same gift to Lin.

It had always been a question of whether or not Kya wanted to be tied down to any one person. Now that wasn’t the question anymore. It wasn’t being tied down as much as being connected with, formally and openly, a promise. A commitment. She was ready for that now. Now the question was how, with Katara’s care and Lin’s career, pulling her in two directions so very far apart, she was going to choose. Did she want to ruin Lin’s future? Lin wouldn’t see it that way, no more than she’d seen a life with Dís as ruining hers. But Dís had released her, set her free, and the things she did with that freedom had made her into what she was today.

_The things we are, and the things we do,_ she thought. _Shaped by circumstances, chance and change, shaped by love taken and given. Two sides of the same thing._

And Dís had made the choice to love her, regardless of the cost to herself. Mom had said that choice could hurt; she finally, after thirty-some years, finally understood the sacrifice love could require.

Lin came to her then, as she stood at the rudder, the tears starting. She came around behind her and put her chin on Kya’s shoulder, her arms around her waist, holding her. The pain was as fresh now as it had been then.

* * *

They reached the point where the coast turned southward. It was starting to get late, and in the morning they could begin toward the strait between Chin and Kyoshi Island.

There was an extraordinary sunset, red clouds and gold light on everything. Kya was looking for a place to come ashore, and Lin watched her at the rudder, her skin aglow, eyes fixed on the sea, her face calm and serious. Maybe…maybe now was the right time?

“Kya.”

Kya seemed not to hear her.

“Kya?”

“Oh! Oh, what, Lin? Sorry, I’m concentrating. The shore’s a little rocky. Can you hold on until I find a place to land?”

“Oh, yes, yes, of course!”

Lin was suddenly nervous. Maybe now wasn’t the right time, though Kya had looked so beautiful in that light. But no… it could wait. Of course it could wait. Kya was beautiful in every light. Why did that matter anyway?

The sun kept on setting, and that idea made Lin laugh at herself. Of course it did! What a dunderhead she was being! Still, this was hard. This gift she had for Kya was unlike anything she’d ever given her before. She didn’t know how Kya would respond.

The light was going, the sun now gone. Kya’s brow was furrowed, as she had not yet found anyplace to land. The shore was very rocky, evidently. The sea splashed up against cliffs and there was no beach to speak of.

“Well, Lin, I guess it’s going to be a while before we’re going ashore,” Kya said apologetically.

“Shall we just go below and sleep?”

“I don’t think so,” Kya said. “We’re too close to shore, and the anchor may drag and we could still crash into the rocks. No, I’ll just have to sail tonight and maybe sleep when we get to Kyoshi Island.”

“But how? That doesn’t seem fair.”

“How about you take the first watch, while there’s still some light, and when it’s full dark I’ll take over. We’ll take turns.”

“Do you trust me? I’ve never sailed at night before.”

“I’ve trusted you with my life before, sweetheart,” Kya said. “I know you can do this.”

Lin took the rudder, and Kya lit some small lamps to illuminate the deck. They shortened the sails so that there would be less wind for Lin to have to handle. With a kiss, Kya slipped below and went right to the bunk. “I’ll be back up in two hours.”

Lin felt like a small child with a big task. She knew what to do; by now she’d sailed alone while Kya napped many times. Night, though, that was different. She could hear the waves more than she could see them, and every breath of wind seemed to gust a bit stronger. The cliff walls loomed black on the shore to the east. She watched the west become orange, and then green, and then purple, and then a deep blue line.

But then, then…Lin saw the moonless sky overhead. It was brilliant in a way she’d never seen. The stars seemed to explode with brightness. And the ocean itself glowed! She had never known it would be like this, with phosphorescence in the waves shining blue in the wake of the boat. It was like spirit light, like the Avatar’s eyes. She was awed. Kya had never mentioned it before. This… it was like the light in the crystals of the Cave of Two Lovers, and when she realized that, it appeared to her that the entire surface of the sea was shining.

She sailed on, hardly feeling the time pass after that. Her anxiety faded, and once again she knew how to sail, as though it were daylight. Her senses were all alive, and she tasted and smelled the salt air and the smoke from the tiny lamps, felt the sea breeze in her hair, heard the water move and felt its lift and fall.

Kya came to relieve her in two hours, on the dot. Lin hardly wanted to surrender the rudder.

“Why did you not tell me it would be like this?” she said, her voice hushed and reverent.

Kya suddenly realized that Lin had never seen these wonders. She laughed, a musical laugh that deepened Lin’s love for her yet again.

“I keep the best secrets for just the right time.”

Lin was thunderstruck. Now. Now was the right time. She reached into her pocket and brought out her gift.

She took Kya’s hand. “I made this for you.”

She put a ring on Kya’s finger… it was an intricately detailed pair of koi fish, one in gold, one in silver, that Lin had made from two of the coins Noma had given back to her; they appeared to swim in opposite directions. In the space between their tails was a stone, a small crystal that Lin had taken from the Two Lovers’ cave near Omashu. It too glowed, with the same color as the sea lights, and as Lin looked at Kya while she put the ring on, it shone with a light bright enough to illuminate them both.

Now it was Kya’s turn to be awed. She drew a sharp, astonished breath.

“Holy spirits…” she breathed. “How?”

“Huan’s not the only artist in the Beifong family,” Lin said, with a blush that was hidden by the blue glow.

“Lin… I never knew… this is… I can’t believe it.”

Lin had never felt so happy to give something to another person. She was on the verge of tears with Kya’s reaction. Kya’s own tears began to flow, and as they fell they glittered in all the lights.

At once they kissed each other, the passion of the moment spilling out in more tears; but then Kya pulled away.

“Chief, your timing stinks!”

“What?” Lin laughed. “What do you mean? I waited for the perfect moment!”

“And it was,” Kya said, “but now it’s my turn to take the watch! How’m I gonna…” she gestured with her head toward the cabin and the bunk, and wriggled her eyebrows.

“Oh damn!” Lin said, smacking her forehead. “I didn’t think of that!”

“No wonder you won the game,” Kya said, mirthfully. “I really can’t stand to keep my hands off you.”

“I didn’t win, remember?” She smiled coyly. “I forfeited. I said, ‘You win,’ and then you turned around.”

“But that means I let you have your way, even though I won?”

“Didn’t I give you everything you wanted?”

Kya laughed so hard that Lin had to too. “Everything… everything and then some…”

She kissed Lin again, and then swatted her behind. “Get below and get some sleep. You have to be up in two hours.”

“Aye aye, Captain!”

* * *

Dawn came at the end of Lin’s third watch, and though the night sailing had been one of the most memorable things she’d ever done, she was tired and relieved to see daylight again. With yet another kiss as they switched places, she gratefully climbed into the bunk and fell asleep quickly.

Kya yawned and stretched, and opened the sails fully, now that day was coming. She wanted to get to Kyoshi Island as soon as possible, to find a room, and to crash for a few hours of solid sleep… and maybe a little time to play around with Lin.

She could not stop glancing at her hand and the ring. It was somewhere past amazing. She’d never seen such fine craftsmanship, such incredible detail in metal; and the stone was genuinely startling. Lin thought of everything. Even the two colors of metal, gold and silver, to represent their individuality; but they were the same and in complete harmony. Fluid and solid all at once. It wasn’t craftsmanship. It was pure art, and made with so much love that it glowed to beat the growing sun. It was priceless.

What could she possibly give in return? She felt unworthy. Lin was giving and giving and giving; what could she give back? She knew, but didn’t know how. She knew Lin wanted her to stay with her, to live with her; but… Mom. Would Mom agree to come with them? How could she ask? There was no way to choose.

She knew that was what the vision meant. Dís had given her everything she had, all the time she had left, and given Kya her future too. Dís had made the commitment that her love required, though it had hurt her terribly.

Maybe… maybe Mom would agree. Maybe she could get Tenzin and Bumi to help take care of Mom. If she wanted to stay at the South Pole, she could get them to help her while Kya came back to Republic City; she’d see Mom again, the way she’d been seeing Lin, during long visits and vacations. Maybe Tenzin and Bumi and she could split the year and take turns, like the watch of a ship. And that way Lin could keep her own life.

There was a way, but it had to work out, or it would hurt. If Mom didn’t agree, if Mom wanted her to stay, she’d stay, and she’d have to let Lin go, to be what she needed to be. She couldn’t steal Lin’s future from her. Letting her go would hurt like nothing else ever had. But she’d do it. She’d do it for Lin. And she’d do it for Mom.

What a weight this was! What a terrible weight! Love wasn’t just sex and kisses and laughing; it was this. It was doing whatever both Mom and Lin each needed, no matter how much it hurt.

She sailed on, watching the cliffs of Chin rise to her left, sailing southward. They might well be there in Kyoshi by the end of her watch.


	11. Retail Therapy

The village on Kyoshi Island, like many other Earth Kingdom cities, had grown since the end of the Hundred Years’ war, and Avatar Kyoshi was a big draw for earthbenders from all over the world. The town was a complete tourist trap.

There were places where the honor of the old Avatar was kept, and the locals on the island certainly tried not to disrespect her memory; but commerce was as commerce has always been, and where there’s money to be made, entrepreneurs will flock.

They arrived late morning, had a lunch at a forgettable diner, and found a suitable room for the night. Though their love was young, their bodies soon reminded them that they were neither of them spring pigchickens. Waking up every two hours for their watches wore them out.

They slept soundly throughout the afternoon; they woke groggy and confused. They took a leisurely shower together, which was both enjoyable and necessary.

Finally, after the aches and pains of age were subdued by strong tea and vigorous massage—Kya, after all, was an expert, and Lin an excellent student in yet another subject—they were ready to go out and see the sights and sounds of this famous island.

Arm in arm they walked through the city market streets, brightly lit with a multitude of colors, and hanging lanterns swaying gently overhead. It was like a festival, with crowds milling, laughing, shopping. Music spilled from open-air bars and cafés, and there were street performers and musicians too. It was beginning to get dark in the sky, but there was no sleeping through this much excitement.

“Souvenirs?” Lin asked.

“Of course! I need gifts for Tenzin and Pema and the kids, Korra and Asami, Mom…”

Lin laughed. “Nothing for yourself?”

Kya looked at her, shocked. “After this ring? There’s no following that act, baby.”

Lin was highly pleased with that answer, and with herself.

Lin had gifts to get too… she bought a statue of Kyoshi, knowing it would be perfect behind the bar at the women’s club they frequented. Tok and Miki would love it. Nuying would be thrilled with the gourd flute Kya found at a small stand.

They came to a place which sold a set of tiny carvings of all the Avatars in jade and other minerals. There was supposed to be a thousand in the full set. They looked at each other. “Korra,” they said, in unison. Asami would get an elegant silk scarf. Jinora a lovely brass bookmark with a dyed silk ribbon, Ikki a poseable Kyoshi doll with small metal fans. They got Meelo a bowl-shaped Earth Army helmet from the Hundred Year’s War. Though they questioned its authenticity, Meelo would certainly still be convinced. Rohan was still a toddler, but shouldn’t be left out, Kya insisted… a small toy drum on a stick would be just the thing. Noisy toys were the privilege of aunts to give, she said, and it looked like an Air Nomad relic.

They shopped for hours, late into the night, the crowds hardly abating. They made arrangements for all the items to be shipped back to Republic City.

Finally, they had a late dinner. There was a floor show… it was a group of women, dressed as Kyoshi warriors, with facepaint, costumes and fans. Since the end of the war and the advent of probending, the fighting forms of the Kyoshi Warriors had become stylized and appeared as more of a dance than training for warriors. Lin frowned slightly at this, and wondered why the locals had let this become so.

“Isn’t there anything that you want?” Kya asked, slightly frustrated. They were on their way back to the hotel. Lin had declined every effort from Kya to get her some kind of gift for herself.

“I want you,” Lin said, with a wink and a smile.

“You already have that,” Kya retorted. “But isn’t there any _thing_ I can give you?”

They were passing a stand selling brass. Horns, bells, vases, kettles, decorations… and a shining pair of fans, replicas of Kyoshi’s. They were beautifully made, very high quality. Lin stopped to admire them.

“Well… I guess I wouldn’t mind that.” She pointed at the fans. “They would look very nice in my art collection, don’t you think?”

“Oh, Lin! I should have known. You have really good taste, you know.”

Lin bent and kissed her cheek, and took her hand. “I want only the very best,” she said, with another wink.

Kya made the transaction, and carried the fans back to the hotel. They were heavy… how had the warriors used these? Maybe Toph was right, she thought to herself. Maybe we’re all getting soft.

It was late, but their sleeping schedule was still a little off, so they relaxed on the large bed in the hotel room, cuddled together. A radio played traditional music from the area, and it was just exotic enough to make them feel like they were in a new, strange place, yet safe and comfortable.

Kya got up and shrugged out of her dress. Time for some fun, she thought.

Lin perked up instantly.

“All right Lin! You owe me. You forfeited and I want my night of anything I want.”

“Whoa! I…”

“You what?” Kya smiled and raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that what you told me?”

Lin bit her lip. It was indeed. She was in for it now.

Kya went to Lin’s bag, and felt around in it for the silk piece she carried. Smirking, she brought it back to the bed.

Lin went to stand, but Kya stopped her. “Nope. I’ve got plans.” So Lin lay back, curious, grinning.

“You trust me?”

Lin nodded solemnly. The anticipation was building.

With great slowness, she undressed Lin, unbuttoning her shirt and opening it, and reaching around to take her bra off. Lin tried to help, but Kya batted her hands away. She sat helplessly as Kya continued to reveal her, pulling off the shirt and then the bra with great deliberation. Finally, when the fabric was clear, Kya put it aside with great flourish. She pulled off the trousers just a bit at a time.

Lin moved to put her hands around Kya, but again, Kya leaned back and away, taking her by the wrists and pushing her hands down. So Lin attempted to relax.

She leaned forward again, up onto her hands, and placed kisses all along LIn’s shoulders, first the right, and then the left, one by one. Lin bent her head, trying to meet her lips with her own, but Kya would not take the bait.

“Nope, baby. This is my turn. Guess I’m gonna need this. Hands up, Chief,” she said.

Lin, surprised, raised her hands, and Kya wound the silk length around them, and then pushed her back to the headboard. She wound it around a bedpost and tied it off.

“Uh…”

“You said you trust me.”

“I do.”

“All right then. Trust me.”

Lin was eagerly anticipating what would be next, but not a little frustrated that she was prevented from touching Kya with her hands now.

Kya started over with the kisses, first the right shoulder, then the left. Then, letting a hand trail down to her breast, she put her lips to Lin’s throat and kissed her way upward. When she passed her chin and reached her lips, Lin was leaning forward, her mouth slightly open, waiting. Kya teasingly licked her lips, and pulled back again.

She moved to the spot beneath Lin’s ear, and grazed the skin there with teeth and lips, drawing a gasp from Lin. She began a descent down her throat, and up again to the other side, lightly biting again.

Now, she moved down, leaving a trail of kisses to the spot between her collarbones. Her hands began to move, first using her fingers to circle the breast she had been holding, curling them around and drawing them forward to the tip, again and again. Lin’s nipple became erect under the stimulus, and so Kya turned and caught it between her teeth, just barely applying pressure. She massaged the other in the same way.

Lin was tensing with anticipation. Kya straddled her, and brought her hands around Lin’s back, and pulled her slightly forward. She rewarded her patience with a long, slow kiss on the lips, her tongue gently curling forward to lick the lips again as she drew back.

Her hands moved down to grip Lin’s buttocks, and she moved her pelvis forward to grind against her for a little. Lin tugged hard against the restraints, wanting to move freely, lifting herself to meet Kya.

Kya stopped and pulled back again. She dipped to kiss Lin’s breasts, circling the aureola with her tongue, and back and forth, side to side across her taut abdomen. Fingers drew forward, tracing the lines of her ribcage.

She circled her navel with a tongue, and began a slow dance of kisses below it, side to side again. Lin’s breath was nearly heaving now.

She pulled back even further, in between her knees, and kissed them, working from the inside of the right knee to the inner thigh. She kissed in zigs and zags, and her fingers stroked Lin’s lower abdomen. Then she switched to the left side and repeated her touching. She ran her fingertips upward along the back of Lin’s legs, from the buttocks to the back of her knees.

Kneeling between Lin’s legs, now, pleased with her, she went up and kissed her again, again, so, so slowly. Then she moved back and zigzagged her way down the thighs a second time, each time coming closer to the center, sometimes using her teeth. She kneeled, sitting on her haunches, and waited until Lin opened her eyes. Lin’s eyes were slightly unfocused.

She resumed kissing, ever so slowly, and then pressed a single finger in between the lips, causing Lin to arch her back. She waited for Lin to relax again, and then lay between her thighs, gently pushing her finger inside her. When she was deep inside, she bent and suckled lightly on the bud, and Lin bucked hard.

She stopped completely, and waited for Lin to relax again. Then she repeated it, suckling and twirling her tongue around Lin’s clit, feeling the warm flood on her finger. She curled the finger forward as she applied her lips again. Lin twisted against her restraints.

She did this, again and again, each time bringing Lin closer to the edge, and pulling away when she sensed Lin was close. Lin lay gasping against the pillows, her eyes clamped shut. Finally, she bent one more time, suckled and flicked her tongue against the most sensitive part, her finger working, until Lin at first groaned, and then in a rising cry lifted herself upward, her muscles tight across her body.

Quickly, she reached up and untied the silk, and Lin’s arms fell down as she collapsed, panting. Her eyes stayed closed as she came down from the peak.

Kya lay her head on Lin’s shoulder, and Lin’s arms splayed outward. She curled into Lin’s side. As though drained, Lin flopped her arm over Kya’s shoulders, and turned on her side to face her. Their legs twined together.

“You taste so good,” Kya said.

Lin had no words. She simply rested there, their arms loosely around each other. Kya heard her breathing become slow as she fell asleep. She was glad that she was able to give something back, for once, watching her face as she slept. She would give everything she had for her. Everything she had.

* * *

Kyoshi Island was created by Avatar Kyoshi around 450 years earlier, when she separated a promontory from the main land mass to protect the people of her village from the tyrant Chin the Great. It was a legendary feat of bending, and Kyoshi was revered by earthbenders around the world for it. There had been a shrine near the village when Avatar Aang had been there more than seventy years before. As the village grew into a town, and then into a small city, the shrine had been upgraded along with it, and was now an impressive museum, with artifacts from her life and the history of the island, and items from around the Earth Kingdom at the time she lived there.

It was this that Kya and Lin wanted to see. Retail therapy was great and a welcome change from the camping and other sightseeing they’d done. Still, Lin was eager to learn things, all the time; Kya loved to see her excitement as she read the inscriptions to each of the items. Sometimes she marveled that this woman was a cop in her everyday life. Lin could have been anything in the world she wanted to be, even President of the United Republic, if she'd wanted. But even as she was capable of great power, as an earthbender, as a leader, as a scholar, she eschewed power. She just wanted things to be done right, and for things to be fair.

They came to an exhibit about the Kyoshi Warriors, and the style of fighting she had created for women to defend her village in her absence. They were fascinated by the history of its development as a defense against aggressive men; how they had managed to stay out of the Hundred Years’ War until almost its end; it was incredibly effective, and Kya remembered the respect Uncle Sokka had for Aunt Suki’s skills as a fighter.

“Why don’t you learn the forms?” Kya suggested. “Could be useful.”

“They didn’t teach it to outsiders,” Lin replied. “Well, except for your uncle. Somehow it seems disrespectful. Still, it would be a shame to see it become just a dance routine.”

"I have an idea."

Kya sought out one of the women wearing the uniform of the Warriors. She waved Lin over.

“My friend and I are interested in learning the fighting forms of the Kyoshi Warriors. We understand that you don’t show that to outsiders? Is that still true?”

“It is,” the woman said, “but I don’t know for how much longer. The young people who’ve grown up with probending don’t understand, or care. They think it’s a silly relic of the past.”

“Would it make any difference if I told you that Suki was my aunt?”

The woman’s eyes goggled. “I was named after her! She was my grandmother’s best friend, before she married Sokka.”

“Small world, isn’t it?” Kya laughed.

“But you’re a waterbender, aren’t you? And these are the forms that Avatar Kyoshi created.”

“But for non-benders, right? So technically you could teach me?”

“Technically I could! But… it takes time to learn the forms. You can’t pick it up in just a day or two.”

“What about my…friend? She’s an earthbender. She’s the daughter of Toph Beifong.”

Lin picked up on the pause; what was Kya trying to say?

“Toph Beifong? THE Toph Beifong?” This Suki’s eyes goggled again.

“There’s only one,” Lin said, and in a low voice only Kya could hear, “thank the Universe.”

Kya tried not to laugh.

“I think both of you have the credentials for instruction. Sokka was shown the forms by Suki, and Ty Lee was Fire Nation. They’ve bent the rules enough times that probably we could bend them again, especially for you. Oh, I’m so excited!” Then her face fell. “But how long will you be here?”

“We do need to be going very soon,” Kya said. “Are there any diagrams? My mother learned Southern Style water bending from a scroll.”

“No,” Suki said, sadly.

“I have an idea myself, actually,” Lin said. “We’ll be back.”

They went back out, and down to the market. Lin found a camera shop, and came out after a short consultation with the shop owner.

“Faster than diagrams, and prettier,” she said. She snapped a photo of Kya.

At the shrine, Suki was thrilled with the idea. “But you’ll have to wear the uniforms, and the makeup,” she insisted. “It’s the tradition.”

So Kya submitted to the ministrations of a handful of women, applying makeup and fitting the uniform, complete with boots and gloves. They were delighted to have the elder Suki’s niece in their midst, and just as delighted to pass on the skills they had learned.

In the meantime, Lin read through the camera’s instructions. It seemed clear enough, and soon she knew exactly how to use it. She had some thoughts about other images she’d like to capture; her mind was whirling deviously.

At last, they began to demonstrate the forms, and Kya followed along. They were like water bending forms, but just enough different to provide her with a challenge. After a while she was sweating and breathing hard to keep up. The uniforms were definitely hot, and the fans heavy. It was a fine workout. She couldn’t wait to see Lin go through them; Lin found her waterbending alluring… she imagined Lin moving through these forms, and had to shake her head to clear it of the luscious thoughts. Oh, yes… Lin would be something to see.

Lin took notes and photographs throughout the session, documenting all the poses and transitions. Then it was her turn.

Kya giggled a little at Lin’s discomfort at the application of the thick makeup, but when she was finished and in the uniform she was the very image of Avatar Kyoshi, tall and proud. The Warriors murmured their approval.

They ran though the forms again, and Lin appreciated the deftness and gracefulness of the motions; There was a rooted character, as with all earthbending forms, but she could sense a certain quality like waterbending too, shifting weight to use the opponent’s own moves against them. She picked up on it very quickly, but at one point, with a flourish of the fan, she managed to blow a hole through a wall.

Embarrassed, she apologized profusely, and used her bending to repair the damage.

“The forms were created for non-benders,” Suki laughed. “Now we see why! You are a very, very powerful bender!” she said, admiringly.

“Now imagine what Avatar Kyoshi would have been like,” another woman said. “We live on an island separated from the mainland because she used these movements and her incredible power to move all this.”

Kya and Lin were appropriately awed at the the notion.

They practiced again that afternoon, and as evening approached, Lin, feeling expansive, invited the group of women to join Kya and herself for dinner. She was making friends left and right, and it pleased Kya to no end.

A joyous evening of food and drink followed, and the two Republic City women were made honorary members of the Warriors. They were humbled and grateful.

“Use this knowledge, now, to benefit others,” an older woman said. “Kyoshi taught young girls to defend themselves. You can do that too.”

“It’s an honor to carry on this noble tradition,” Lin said, and bowed formally, right fist to left palm.

They bowed in return.

As she and Kya walked back to their hotel, Lin began to see how her vision in the swamp might be related to what they’d learned this afternoon. The defense of young women; keeping them from crime in poverty; teaching them how to be powerful.

“I can’t wait to see the photos,” Kya said. “But you’ll have to wait until you can get back to Republic City to have them developed.”

“Well, yes, that’s the plan. I do have other things I’d like to shoot as well.”

“Oh really? Like?”

“Let’s get upstairs… and then let’s… oh, I don’t know… take a shower… and then… maybe some pictures?” She gave Kya a sly look.

“Lin!” Kya exclaimed. “What have you got in mind?”

“Maybe you could waterbend for me? Or we could practice these forms...I’d just like to capture a few memories… that’s all.”

Kya’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. And then her smile widened, and her eyes narrowed, and she began to have ideas of her own. “Memories. Yeah… all right. Let’s make some memories.”


	12. The Beifong Estate

“Uncle Sokka taught me how to read maps,” Kya said proudly, as she consulted one at a table at the little diner by the docks. They’d come ashore during the late morning, and looked forward to a hot meal.

“Mom appreciated your uncle quite a lot,” Lin said. “It’s almost like she had a crush on him.” She smiled, remembering. “They were such good friends… I mean, Mom could be tough on everyone, and even now I can hear her calling your dad ‘Twinkletoes,’ but it seemed to me she had a soft spot for Sokka. Well… she did call him ‘Captain Boomerang’. She teased him, like everyone, but she was never cross with him.”

“Aunt Suki did tell us a funny story about that once… as they were crossing the Serpent’s Pass on foot and Toph fell in the water…”

“Aang told me that one too… Mom would never admit it was true. I guess it must have been.”

“She wasn’t all bad, then, was she?”

“No, of course not. She and Su and I had some really good times when we were young. Maybe just being around her friends then kept her sane. Being chief of police isn’t the easiest job. It was only when I’d just joined the force and Suyin was getting into trouble all the time that she got so… abrasive.”

“I know, love. I know.”

“So how do we get to Gaoling?” Lin gestured at the map.

Kya traced a line with a fingertip. “We take this road here. When were you there last?”

“I saw our grandparents last when I was about ten. Mom was creating the metalbending force at the time, and sent us there during the summers while she trained the recruits. At the end of one summer she had a falling out with Grandma Poppy. Su was sent there a few years after, when I arrested her, but I didn’t see them again.”

“So you were pretty young. Well, it will be interesting to see how things have changed.”

“Remember, Mom sold the estate after Grandfather passed away, so we may not even be able to go inside.”

“I know. Are you sure you want to visit?”

“I’m curious. I remember it as being very quiet and formal, but beautiful. Like a silk painting, I suppose. The gardens were lovely. Our grandparents did their best to keep us entertained, but they always seemed so uncomfortable with us, like children weren’t really something they knew how to handle. They treated us like little adults. I was fine with it, but Suyin hated it. Imagine… having to show up for dinner, on time, and in nice clothes!”

“She’s like Toph, in her way,” Kya said.

“But so am I, in my way,” Lin admitted.

“In the best way,” Kya responded with a smile.

They finished their meal and headed inland from the river landing. They climbed aboard a rickety bus that took them from the small river pier inland toward Gaoling, where the Beifong estate had been since time out of mind.

The city of Gaoling was a blend of the old, traditional ways with new technologies overlaid like a mesh. Satomobiles and ostrich horse carts rumbled side-by-side over dusty brick-laid streets. Electric wires were strung from sloping rooftops of buildings hundreds of years old. Tall new buildings were also being built here and there, accommodating a population increasing year by year. Children were everywhere, playing in the summer streets. The game of knocking a ball around with earthbending invented in Ba Sing Se had become popular here too; and teenagers practiced probending moves.

As the sun began to angle toward evening, they finally turned onto the street where they were to find the Beifong estate. It was not what they’d expected.

The tall walls that seventy-some years ago had kept Aang, Sokka and Katara out and Toph inside were cracked and crumbling. Weeds grew everywhere. The once neatly-trimmed topiaries were overgrown, shapeless masses. The massive wooden doors of the front gate were gone, and the entry to the estate was wide open to the world.

“What…” Lin said, shocked, her mouth agape.

Kya put her hand on Lin’s shoulder. “Are you all right?”

“Mom sold the place decades ago, but… what happened? Who owns it now? Why is it abandoned?”

“I don’t know, Lin. We can go find a hotel or something.”

Lin shook her head. “This is the strangest feeling. It’s like my childhood was… imaginary. Like I made it up. I can see the outlines of things I remember, but it’s… gone.”

“Let’s go, then,” Kya said, her voice full of concern.

“No,” Lin said hesitantly, “I want to see.”

“Are you sure?”

“I think so. I don’t think there’s anyone to tell us not to come in.”

They went up the main walkway towards the house, its edges overgrown, winding drunkenly up to the courtyard. It was a sturdy building, ancient, with great timbers holding up its stone walls. Some patches of tiles were missing from the roof, but otherwise it appeared that the house was still intact.

The flying boar of the Beifong family was still visible, carved in stone on many pillars and walkways. That, at least, was a familiar sight, and it gave Lin some comfort. Not everything from her youth was taken away.

They crossed the stone courtyard in front of the house, Kya awestruck by the grandeur of the estate, despite the obvious neglect. The evening was turning all the creamy stone into a gold color, and she imagined it without the overgrowth; it had to have been a paradise for a young girl to wander about, with koi ponds and fruit trees, hedges and topiaries, willows and maples growing tall and shady, and open, grassy patches in bright sunlight, perfect to run across. There were little stone buildings, wondrous places where one might sit and read a book; bridges to look over to see one’s reflection in the water.

“This place is unbelievable,” she said.

“It was,” Lin agreed. “I have to find out what happened.”

They approached the huge front door cautiously. It occurred to Lin that perhaps people would be inside: the owners, fallen on hard times? Or anyone, for that matter, who would occupy an abandoned building just for the shelter. They listened carefully as they pushed the great door open.

Sparkling sunlight flooded through windows, and dust motes swirled as they entered, catching light in vortices of gold. They heard nothing.

Hand in hand, they searched the first floor, with no sign of life. There were no footprints in the dust, no smell of smoke from any of the fireplaces. The rich carpets were gone, and all the furniture; they were large, echoing, empty rooms.

“I just don’t understand,” Lin said.

“Your mother sold it? Who bought it?”

“I was too young. I don’t remember.”

“Maybe tomorrow we can find out,” Kya said. “We can go to City Hall and ask who the current owners are.”

“Yes,” Lin said, distractedly.

“Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Yes. I’m remembering so many things.”

They went up the grand staircase. There were many bedrooms, and a spacious marbled bath, almost a pool. There was dust everywhere, but still no sign of habitation. A few leaks came through the roof, but the stone building was structurally sound.

“It wouldn’t take much…” Lin began.

“What are you thinking?”

“I… Well… I don’t know. We could… it was in my family for generations.”

“It’s also nowhere near Republic City.”

“I know.”

“That’s why Toph sold it.”

“I know,” Lin said, annoyed. “It’s such a waste. I used to think it was the best place in the world, and now it’s rotting away.”

“Lin,” Kya said, quietly, “What are you feeling?”

“I’m… sad. Lost. Angry. This… this is… my family owned this, and Mother just sold it, right out from under me. And Su. This was ours.”

Kya took her hand, and Lin welcomed the gesture. They finished exploring, and went out to sit on the enormous porch.

"You know, I do have an idea."

"Let's hear it."

"You know how we met Noma, who was stealing but still living in a cave? And how many were orphaned in Omashu? What’ll happen to them? And my vision, about a starving mother and children. And then… The Kyoshi Warriors, telling us to teach young girls to defend themselves."

"Riiiight… I think I see where you're going with this."

"What if I took it back, and we founded a school?"

"Spirits, Lin!"

"You said we can't change the world, but we can have compassion for those we meet in it."

"I did indeed."

"And maybe we can teach them to do the same, and maybe it would... oh, I don't know… spread out from there."

Lin was silent. Her mind was working, but she was frowning.

"I'd have to give up being Chief."

“Maybe."

"Ahh, it's crazy."

"It's not crazy. It's just… ambitious. If there were anyone who could make it happen, it would be you."

"What if it didn't work?"

"What if it did?"

Lin put her head in her hands. “It’s too much! Run a police force, or start a school? Stay in Republic City or move to the South Pole? Or Gaoling? All I want…”

Kya put a hand on her shoulder.

“All I want is to be with you. A little home, with you. That’s all I want. It’s all too much time, too much work, and too much responsibility. It’s too heavy. I can’t carry it all.”

“Lin, Lin! Oh, sweetie. Don’t do this to yourself!” Kya was alarmed. She’d wanted to talk to Katara first, before making any decisions. She wasn’t ready for this discussion yet. “Lin. Honey. You don’t have to do a thing right now. Just relax. Oh, baby, don’t worry.”

She put her arms around Lin, and pulled her close. She held her there for a while, as the dusk grew around them.

Lin stiffened, and sat upright.

“What is it, Lin?”

“Do you smell smoke?”

Kya breathed deep, and yes, there was a hint of smoke on the breeze. Where was it coming from?

Lin stood, and cautiously moved across the courtyard to the staff building on her right. They hadn’t yet explored there. The main house might well have been left alone, while someone occupied the low building there.

As they approached, they heard rustling, and the gentle clatter of stoneware. Someone was definitely inside.

“I don’t know. We’re trespassing too, so I guess we don’t have anything to say, do we?”

As they waited, trying to decide their next move, a child wandered out into the courtyard. The child was small and thin, and carried a large jar. He was headed to a side gate, probably to the river outside the estate walls to get water.

They saw him, and he saw them. He dropped the jar, and scuttled back inside the low building.

They went to the doorway, and inside they saw a woman, clearly undernourished, and the boy and what looked like his sister hiding behind her skirt. They looked at Lin with empty eyes.

She stepped back in shock. This was her vision in the swamp.

Kya approached them, bending slightly. She was huge compared to them, tall and strong. In the softest voice, she said, “I’m sorry we startled you.”

They were silent. They’d built a small fire, and a little pot hung over it. They were about to eat a meal, and it was meager at best.

Lin touched Kya’s elbow, and gestured for her to move back.

Then, in an equally soft and quiet voice, Lin asked them, “Are you hungry?”

The little girl behind her mother nodded, and the mother turned her head away in shame.

“There’s no reason to be afraid. We’re here to help you,” Lin said. “We’ll go into town and bring back some food for you. Would that be all right?”

The mother, too hungry to let her shame win, nodded, and the children’s eyes were very wide.

“We’ll be back. Don’t worry. We’re here to help you.”

“No, don’t!” The mother cried. “The police. You’ll bring the police back. This is the only place we have. Don’t let them find us.”

“We wouldn’t do that,” Kya said, but the mother’s face was terrified.

Kya and Lin stepped another pace back.

“What do we do?” Kya said. “How do we get them to trust us?”

“Keep talking, but gently. Let’s get to know them.” Lin called out, “My name is Lin.”

They did not respond.

“This is my… friend… Kya.”

The little boy piped up, “I’m Huan!” but then, stricken by shyness, hid completely behind his mother.

Lin smiled broadly. “Huan? I have a nephew named Huan! He’s an artist!”

The little girl asked, shyly, “He’s a painter?”

“He paints, and he makes things from metal. He’s a sculptor!”

The little girl smiled, and Kya almost melted from the cuteness. But this girl was just a trifle too thin to be cute in the usual way. She should have chubby cheeks!

“Huan is a metalbender!” Kya said, enthusiastically.

The mother eyed them suspiciously.

“What do you want?”

“We’re here to help you,” Lin said again. “We didn’t expect anyone to be here, but now that we’ve found you, we want to help.”

“Why are you here?”

“I used to come here when I was a little girl myself,” Lin said. She gestured out the door. “Down at the far end of the garden I used to sit in the little gazebo and read all day. I haven’t been here since I was a little girl.”

“So you see,” Kya added, helpfully, “we’re kind of not supposed to be here either!”

The woman did not have the energy to argue with them any longer. Indeed, she seemed to have no energy at all. She crumpled in a little heap, right before their eyes.

Kya jumped forward to check on her, drawing water from the leather flask at her waist. She put the water on her fingers and touched the woman’s temples.

“She’s fainted from hunger. She’ll be all right,” she said to the children, who were just starting to cry. The fainting had frightened them.

“I’m going into town. I’ll get some food for them. You wait here.”

“Yes,” Kya agreed. “Get something soft and bland. They won’t be able to handle much more. Just rice, if you can find it. We’ll work up from there.”

Lin was off, and once outside the estate walls she bent the earth to force her steps forward at great speed. The children’s crying redoubled at the rumbling.

The woman woke, alarmed to find herself lying in Kya’s arms. Kya smiled at her. “Don’t worry. We said we’re here to help. Lin… my friend… is going to get us some rice to eat. Just rest. We’ll take care of you.”

The woman closed her eyes, the corners wet. Kya took her over to a mat that appeared to be where she slept and laid her down carefully.

“Huan,” she said, “would you go and get some water for us?”

The boy nodded bravely, and went out to fetch the jar he’d dropped. He came back shortly with it as full as he could carry.

“What’s your name, sweetie?” she asked the little girl.

“Yun.”

“That’s a very pretty name. How old are you?”

“I’m five and Huan is six.”

“How long have you lived here?” she asked them.

“Two years,” the woman said, from the corner. “They don’t remember anywhere else.”

Kya didn’t know what to say. She had difficulty imagining raising two children, alone, in such abject poverty.

“My husband didn’t come back from Kuvira’s war,” she said. “I had no one to watch my children, so I couldn’t work.”

Kya found a cup on a shelf. This had once been the kitchen for the main house, and the fire they made was dwarfed by the huge hearth. It was a large room, large enough for a staff of cooks and waiters, and for the three of them it was sufficient as a whole house.

She washed the cup in some of the water Huan had brought back, and bending more from the jar, she filled the cup, cooling it to just above freezing. She carefully helped the woman drink from it. Then she went back and added water to the little pot cooking there. It was a meal of millet and vegetables from the overgrown garden; she thought it would be ready soon, and thought maybe some rice to supplement it would be just the thing.

The children had watched her bend the water with amazement. Clearly they’d never witnessed waterbending so close up before.

“Mama! She’s a waterbender!” the little boy said, awed.

“I want to be a waterbender!” the little girl laughed, a tinkling sound.

Kya laughed too. “I don’t know, honey. Aren’t you earthbenders here?”

“No,” said Huan. “We don’t know how to bend anything.”

“Their father was,” the woman said.

“Well, maybe you’ll learn to earthbend, when you’re a little older and stronger. Now, my brother, he’s an _airbender_.”

“What?” the woman said, incredulous. She raised herself a little.

“Oh.. well… yes! My brother is Tenzin. My father was Avatar Aang.” She felt like kicking herself.

“No way.” the woman replied, astonished. Suddenly she seemed very young.

“Oh, yes!” Kya looked at her carefully. Malnourishment obscured her age. She could easily be in her early twenties… not much more than a child herself.

“My name is Kya,” she repeated. “What’s yours?”

“Mei,” she said, after a long pause.

“Beautiful,” Kya said. She believed it. All this woman needed was a chance to get back on her feet, and she would likely be the beauty she had been before her fortunes had soured.

Lin returned then, carrying several boxes of steamed rice. Together, she and Kya served the vegetables over the rice, and assisting the weakened Mei, they ate together.

Having the first substantial meal they’d had in some time, and excited to meet new people who were friendly, suddenly the children were wound up and running everywhere. Mei was able to sit up after a time.

“So who owns this property now?” Lin asked.

“The Beifong family.”

“Well that can’t be right. Mom sold it.”

“It’s always been called the Beifong estate. Nobody’s lived here for as long as I can remember. There was a sale, I guess, where all the stuff inside was sold, but I don’t think anybody bought the property itself. But wait… you’re a Beifong too?”

Lin was baffled. She’d believed that someone else owned it. Was it possible? Why did her mother choose to live in a swamp? She couldn’t just call her and ask!

Kya was amazed. “Lin! You might still be the owner!”

“Or Mom,” Lin responded, “but I guess she wouldn’t claim it. I’m going to need to get in touch with Su. I wonder if she knows.”

“Maybe best to see City Hall tomorrow and be sure.”

Lin’s mind was whirling again. This changed things. If she owned the property, she could do whatever she wanted with it, as soon as tomorrow. But no… there was still much to be decided. Plans had to be made. Kya… she and Kya had to resolve the question of Katara, and that couldn’t happen until they got to the South Pole. Whatever was going to happen, she was going to be with Kya. That was clear now. Whether she had to move to the South Pole and change her career, or have her love’s mother in her home was of little consequence. She had to be where Kya would be.

Kya was telling stories, now, and Lin leaned back against a wall and watched her dear friend entertain the children and their mother with fantastic tales of spirits and benders, and some of the stories of Aang and and his friends, from when their grandparents were all children. This was so clear, clear as spring water. She had to be where Kya would be.

* * *

 

It didn’t seem right to leave the little family to spend the night alone again in the abandoned kitchen of the Beifong estate, so Kya and Lin decided to stay there with them. This time Kya went out, back to the boat, and came back after a time in a cab with bedrolls and some of the food they’d had stored on the ship, dry noodles and beans and other foods that traveled well. The cabbie was mystified at the address Kya had given him, but when Lin greeted her at the gate, he shrugged, pocketed the gold coin Lin flipped his way, and tipped his hat.

It was starting to be very late, so they called it a night. The little boy slept with his mother, but Yun wanted to stay near Kya; she was determined to be a waterbender, all the reasons against it notwithstanding.

Lin, for her part, couldn’t fall asleep. This had been home to her during the summer as a child. She could barely believe she was back again, and wondered at the possibilities of restoring the estate to its former glory. But not exactly the same… that estate had represented the collection of fabulous wealth without concern for anyone outside the family. That had to change; it wasn’t compassionate. It was out of balance.

But so much to do! How could she do it all?

She went to her favorite gazebo, down at the far wall. There were bushes concealing the sides, and roots from a tree had cracked the walk up to it and were starting to topple the stairs. But the floor inside was still level. She went inside, and sat on the stone bench, and leaned out to see the stars. City lights obscured some of them, but not like Republic City. There were still many to see.

Her whole adult life, she’d been a cop. Her life’s work was fighting crime and bringing justice. She’d worked as much as she could. She’d helped Avatar Korra and had been helped by her. She liked the work; though just before Kya had come back into her life it had started to become tedious. But at the beginning she’d liked it, and she knew the job, and she did it well. If she left her position as Chief, she’d feel like she’d left the job unfinished. She wasn’t ready to leave it in other hands; she had to make sure those hands were steady. Mako came to mind again. He’d done well at many of the assignments she’d given him. And he was focused. Having a fire bender in charge would be strange for the elite metalbending force, but what element he bent meant less than his capacity to lead.

On the other hand, there were other things pulling at her now. Since Kya had come into her life, her interest in making art had been revived. She had the collection at home, always a comfort to her; but since she’d buried the hatchet with Suyin, and knowing how her sister supported her nephew's creativity, she felt the itch again. She’d wanted to paint Kya at the cottage at the beach. She’d made her a ring that she could be very proud of. And the camera was so easy and felt so natural to her. She was anxious to get back to Republic City and develop the prints… there was still darkroom equipment in the evidence room… maybe she could get it on the cheap.

Now there was this opportunity to create change for good in the world. She’d had the vision of protecting the poor; she’d changed the fortune and direction of at least one young woman, and had the chance to prevent young orphans in Omashu from turning to crime themselves out of ignorance and want. This was unlike anything she’d ever considered before, but at the same time it was kind of like going on a mission: there were people to appoint to various positions; logistics to manage; goals to set. She could teach the traditions of the Kyoshi Warriors to a new generation of girls. She could teach young boys useful skills instead of them learning violence on the streets. She had worries, of course. How did you find people you could trust? Who wouldn’t abuse authority over the weak ones entrusted to their care? How would you handle young people who were troubled in mind or spirit? How did you create a shelter that wouldn’t become a prison? She had so much to learn, even to begin.

And then there was Kya herself. If her mother didn’t want to leave the South Pole, Kya wasn’t going to leave her there alone. And if that were the case, Lin was willing to give up everything else, just to be with her. She could make art as easily there as anywhere. She could train young girls there too. Republic City… well… she could maybe stay just long enough to prepare for her to leave. She’d miss it. All her friends were there, old and new. But there was no friend so great that she would choose them over Kya.

She suddenly wondered again what Kya’s vision was. It had caused her great pain, and she wasn’t ready to talk about it right away. Whatever it had been, it was rough on her. Lin yearned to help her with it, but feared it too.

She lay back on the stone bench, and clasped her hands on her chest. Around her the air had become very cool. The further south they traveled, the more like fall it was becoming, though spring was turning to summer in Republic City. What a strange world it was. The leaves surrounding the gazebo were black, like the banyan tree had been, but the sky with its glittering stars blue and bright. She closed her eyes and heard the sounds of fall, crickets, and the wind in the leaves. The wind whispered a gentle message: hush. Wait and see. Hush.

* * *

Mei had been a beggar the past two years, since Kuvira’s army fell. Her husband hadn’t returned from the war, but she’d had no notice of death. She suspected he’d simply taken the opportunity to leave his family. She’d become pregnant with Huan, and they’d married against their families’ wishes. Both of them were teenagers at the time.

“My mother-in-law hates me, and my father disowned me,” she said. “I didn’t know where to go.”

“Do they live here in Gaoling?” Kya said. “Time heals a lot of wounds. Maybe meeting their grandchildren would change their minds.”

“I’m afraid to see them. My father was so angry. I thought he was going to kill us. Mom’s eyes were so cold. I’m so afraid they’ll just turn me away again.”

“We could go with you.” Kya suggested.

Mei was torn. She longed to see her family again. “You would?”

“Of course we would.”

“Where do they live?” Lin asked.

“My mother-in-law lives here in Gaoling. My parents have a farm to the east, by a little village there.”

“Let’s go into town first. I need to go to the city hall and make sure what you’re saying about the estate is correct.”

The children were overjoyed to go into the busy town for something other than begging. Most days they sat with their mother in the market, hoping for coins. It was dull and sad.

“They should be enrolled in school,” Lin said.

“I can’t afford it.” Mei replied, sadly.

Lin was horrified. In Republic City, almost all children the age of Yun and Huan were in school, open to the public. City taxes paid for it. It hadn’t occurred to her that such things weren’t common around the confederation of provinces that had made up the former Earth Kingdom and Empire. Omashu had been backward… was the whole world like this? Oh, there was so much work to do!

At the city building, they split up. Kya would take them to see Mei’s mother-in-law, while Lin took care of business. They would meet later for lunch. The children were nearly bouncing on springs at the idea of a meal in the middle of the day, especially with their new “aunts”.

Lin asked to see the registry of property owners in the city, and was taken to a functionary’s office. There was a scrawny, balding man who greeted her with a big handshake.

“What property are you interested in?”

“The Beifong estate. Who’s the current owner?”

“Hmm…” He went to an enormous book, and flipped through its giant pages. He flipped backward, and again. “It’s been some time… I remember the furniture and the other items were sold…”

He wasn’t quick. He took a long glance at every page, balancing small wire-rimmed glasses on the end of his nose.

Lin folded her arms impatiently. Being police chief meant having to interact with bureaucrats every day, who seemed to operate in a space and time separate from the rest of humanity. This one was no different; not something she’d anticipated encountering on her vacation. She tapped her foot, trying to keep her temper under control. There was too much to do now, it seemed, and she wanted to get as much done as she could.

The little man paged and paged through the book. He seemed oblivious to Lin’s agitation. He descended backward through history in the book, making little noises when something interesting was listed, but he didn’t stop.

“Ahem… hmm… here… Lao Beifong… passed away… and… Poppy… Beifong… some years later… no… it doesn’t appear…”

“What?”

“It doesn’t appear that the property itself transferred hands. The goods of the estate, like the furnishings and so on… they were sold, but the property itself would belong to any heirs. I understand there was a daughter?”

“That was my mother,” Lin said, baffled.

“Oh! Well! So you’re a member of the Beifong family?” he bowed respectfully.

“Yes,” she said distractedly. She wandered away.

“Miss! Miss!” the bureaucrat called after her. “I need to put your name in the register, then. We need to collect your information! Miss!”

“I need to talk to my sister,” she said back to him, not turning, as she left his office.

Lin exited the building, and descended the steps in a state of wonder. The estate was hers and Suyin’s. Mom wouldn’t want it. She could do with it as she pleased.

The city building was on one side of an open square, with grass and trees. As she went down the stairs, she heard distant police sirens. Immediately her senses sharpened, and she listened for the direction they were moving. Her view shifted to a street corner, and in moments she saw a pair of motorbikes moving at high speed along the side of the square.

Lin leapt down the rest of the stairs and landed solidly on her feet. She pulled her elbows into her sides, and then punched out with her fists. A berm of earth rose up and curved out into the street, and the cycle in front hit it and leaped into the air. The rider flew out of his seat and landed hard on the pavement. The other rider, a moment behind him, was able to skid to the side. Then he took his bike in a different direction, cutting across the square, tearing up the grass. Lin ran a few steps, heaved a chunk of pavement from a walkway, and flung it in his direction. The rider ducked and leaned heavily, hitting the throttle hard. The tires bit into the dirt and sprayed clods, and he spun into a new direction, zooming straight at Lin.

Lin dived to the side, but the front wheel of the motorbike caught her ankle, and drove over it. She felt a searing pain as the fragile bones cracked under the blow. The rider almost lost his balance and his seat, but caught himself, and drove off. She rolled and whipped a block of sod in his direction, but missed. He was gone.

The police arrived, and saw the effort Lin had made. The first rider was still in the street, unconscious, his bike on its side, the front wheel spinning. One radioed for assistance while the other rushed to Lin’s side.

“Ma’am! Are you all right?”

“He went off that way,” Lin pointed, gritting her teeth. The pain in her foot and ankle was shocking. “Lin Beifong, Republic City Police,” she added.

The officer’s eyes went wide, but she bent down and inspected the damage to Lin’s leg. “Thank you for your assistance, Chief Beifong. It’s an honor to meet you. We have an ambulance on the way.”

“My friend… she’s a… urgggh… a water bender and... a healer.”

“Do you know where we can find her?”

“She… ah spirits! This hurts!… lunch… marketplace.”

“We’ll find her, Chief Beifong.”

The ambulance arrived shortly thereafter, and she was taken to a hospital. Lin cursed her bad luck, but knew Kya would be able to set things right soon enough. She was given pain medication and her foot was set and put in a cast. Some vacation, she laughed to herself… she’d need another when she got home!

* * *

Kya, Mei and the children walked a long way, down many turning, narrow streets, until they arrived in a neighborhood with little shops and laundry hanging overhead. Children played in the street, and men sat on stoops in front of row houses. Women chatted from their windows and in front of the shops. It seemed like a friendly place, but there was a certain air of curiosity as the tall, beautiful waterbender walked together with the thin young woman and the two children clinging to her skirts.

“This is the right place?” she asked.

“Yes. It hasn’t changed at all.”

There was a row house in the middle of the block. Mei pointed up. “Third floor.”

“Don’t be afraid. You don’t know what’s going to happen, and you shouldn’t assume the worst. And I’m right here with you.”

They went inside and climbed the stairs to the apartment. Looking at Kya helplessly, she drew a breath, held it, and knocked.

Time seemed to freeze as they waited silently in the hallway. They heard feet shuffling, and saw an eye peer through the peephole.

They heard clicking as the woman inside opened the chain. The door swung open.

“Mei? I can’t believe it… are these… my grandchildren?” The woman opened her arms and took Mei into them. She began to weep. Mei too began to cry, and they held each other this way for a while, as the children shuffled uncomfortably.

“Aiyun… this is Huan, and this is Yun.” She put her hands on the children’s shoulders, and showed them proudly to their grandmother. “This is your grandmother, kids.”

Aiyun bent down and put her arms wide, and the children ran into them.

Kya beamed. This had gone much more smoothly than she’d imagined, and she was deeply relieved, but also very pleased. There’s nothing like family, she thought. And then she thought of her own mother, her brothers… and Lin.

The older woman ushered them into her small apartment, and hustled to the kitchen to start some tea. She put out little hard candies and sweet buns for the children, who devoured them gratefully.

“I thought we’d lost you! Kang said he wasn’t with you anymore. He wouldn’t explain!”

“I thought you hated me…” Mei said, astonished.

“I didn’t hate you! I mean, we were angry that you’d got married without our permission, but we got over it. But by then you were gone! And then Kang’s dad passed on, and it was just him and me. After Kuvira fell, he joined that horrible gang. I’ve been so lonely… and I never got to meet my own grandchildren.” Aiyun broke down and wept, bent over her teacup.

“We need your help,” Mei said. “We have nowhere to live. We’ve been hiding at the Beifong estate for the couple of years, and I’ve been… begging… in the west market.”

“You’ve been here in Gaoling all along? Why didn’t you come see me before!?” Aiyun seemed angry.

“I thought you hated me! Why are you yelling at me?” Mei eyes filled with tears.

Aiyun blanched. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I’m not… I’m not good at saying things the right way.”

“It takes time to get used to these things,” Kya said gently. “There’s a lot of things you need to work out, to get to know each other again. Try to be patient with each other.”

Mei nodded.

“I’m sorry, Mei,” Aiyun tried again. “I’m all mixed up.”

Kya patted her shoulder. “That’s all right. People make mistakes. Nobody’s perfect. Acknowledge what you did, and let it go. If you just try to remember that everybody’s just as mixed up as you are, you can maybe understand them a little better.”

“Oh! I totally forgot to introduce you! Aiyun, this is Kya. She’s the Avatar’s daughter.”

Kya rolled her eyes slightly at this… but it was never going to go away. “I’m a waterbender and healer of the Southern Water Tribe,” she said.

“I thought the Avatar was a young girl…” Aiyun said, mystified.

“The old Avatar. The airbender?”

“Ohh,” Aiyun said, finally comprehending.

“And her friend is Toph Beifong’s daughter!”

The older woman was much more impressed by the old Gaoling name than by the mention of the previous Avatar. Kya grinned. At least she wasn’t the only one who lived in the shadow of a famous parent.

“Will Mei and the children be able to stay here with you?” Kya asked, finally.

“Oh, of course! We’ll move some things around, but yes! I need the help these days… my hip is going bad, and my feet hurt all the time. You can get a job and I can watch the kids for you!” Aiyun was just beginning to realize that she wouldn’t be lonely anymore.

Yun’s little voice popped up. “Will I go to school?”

“I don’t know if we can afford that yet, but we’ll try,” Mei said. “Then you can teach me how to read too!”

“Lin will be finished by now, I’m sure,” Kya said. “Will you come with us to lunch by the city hall?”

Aiyun was flabbergasted. “Me? Lunch… with a Beifong? But… I don’t have any fancy clothes… I can’t pay for that. I'm not...”

Kya laughed. “Don’t worry about that. Lin’s not your usual Beifong.”

They took a taxi ride in an open car down to the market near the city square. The children were having the time of their lives, standing on the seats and pointing. Mei was frantic, trying to keep them from falling out.

As they approached the square, they saw that it had been blocked off with police barricades. An uneasy feeling overcame Kya, and she told the family to wait for her. She paid the cabbie and hurried off to an officer.

“What’s happened?” she asked. “We were supposed to meet my friend here.”

“Who’s your friend?” the officer replied, noting Kya’s blue dress. “Are you the healer traveling with Chief Beifong?”

“Oh spirits! Is she all right?”

“She helped us apprehend one of the gang members, but she was injured. They have her at the hospital now. We’ll escort you there.”

Kya was torn. She wanted to see Lin right away, but wasn’t comfortable bringing the newly reunited family along. She wavered a moment.

“Give me a minute,” she told the officer, and hurried back to the waiting family.

“Lin’s in the hospital,” she told them. “I don’t want to disappoint you, but I need to get there. Here…” she handed them a handful of coins. “Go to lunch, and I’ll try to meet you later, all right?”

Aiyun took her hand. “Go take care of your friend. And thank you. This is the best gift I’ve ever had.”

Kya briefly hugged Mei, Huan and Yun. “Be patient with each other,” she reminded them.

The officer drove up in a squad car, and Kya climbed in. She waved to them and the car sped off.

 

* * *

Lin was sleeping, as the medicine she’d been given had taken effect. Kya explained that she was a healer from the Southern Water Tribe, and the nurse led her to the ward where Lin lay.

Drawing water from a pitcher on the nearby table, she applied her hands to Lin’s bound ankle, and the water soaked through the plaster cast and made contact with her skin. Her eyes opened, groggy, and she saw Kya at the foot of her bed, applying the healing qi to her broken bones. She felt them knitting, which was an incredibly strange sensation, not altogether comfortable.

“Kya! What…how’d?”

Kya chuckled. “Trouble is your middle name, Chief.”

Lin nodded in agreement, and closed her eyes. The sensation was unpleasant as Kya mended the complex joint, but she was comforted by the presence of her beloved.

“Wanna tell me what happened?”

“Punks on motorbikes,” Lin said. “I stopped one, the other got away, but not before running me over a little bit.”

“A little bit!”

Lin shrugged. “I’m lucky. What can I say?”

“The officer who brought me here was pretty impressed to meet the great Chief Lin ‘Trouble’ Beifong.”

“They have the same problems with gangs that we do in Republic City. I sympathize.”

“Mei’s missing husband is in one of those gangs.” Kya sighed. “You’re right about that, Lin. There are so many sad stories. It seems like more than anyone can handle.”

“I’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed, yeah,” Lin said. “But you were right too. We need to start waking people up. We won’t be able to do it alone, as mighty as we are.” She winked.

Kya laughed, and stood up. “You’re feeling better now, apparently.”

“You’re here,” Lin said.

“Mei has made up with her mother-in-law, you’ll be glad to know.”

“One family down, one to go.”

“They’re off to lunch on their own,” Kya said. “I said we’d meet up later.”

“We’ll have to get back to my estate soon,” Lin said, checking to see Kya's reaction. She was not disappointed.

“It’s yours?”

“I need to talk to Su about it, but it was never sold." She paused. "I could establish an academy there now."

“Do you want to?”

“I do, but I’m wondering if I can handle that and being Chief, and talking to the provincial governors about schools, and… and… and…”

“Overwhelming. Yep.”

“We need help.”

“We’ll get help.”

“I’ll need you,” Lin said.

“I’ll need you too,” Kya said.

“And your mom?”

Kya was silent.

“You’re worried that she wants to stay in the South Pole.”

“Yes. Yes I am.”

Lin took both her hands in her own. "You know I'd give it all up to be with you. You know that."

Kya dropped her eyes. She couldn't say anything. Lin could sense the strain.

"Kya. Darling. What is it?"

Kya swallowed hard. "My… vision. I want..."

Lin waited.

"Let's…let's wait until we've settled things here. I will tell you, I promise, but right now there's just so much up in the air."

"Kya… just help me understand."

Kya looked at the ceiling, and sighed heavily. "It's a long story, and it hurts to tell it. And I'd rather be alone with you when I do."

Lin glanced around at the other beds in the ward. Some people were sleeping, others awake. It was, perhaps, uncomfortably public.

"You promise?"

"I do promise. I won't hide this from you, but it's not the right time."

Lin was released as soon as the doctor could be located to sign the forms… in the meantime Kya assisted with several of the patients in the ward, and they were quite delighted with her results.

They found the family down the street from the city hall, at an outdoor café, enjoying ices. The children were transported with joy at all the sugary delights. Even from a distance Lin could see that they had made a difference in this one little family, and her heart swelled with pride. Kya was right about showing compassion; the effects could be immediate, and the payback enormous.

They met with them briefly; the dry goods they'd brought from the boat would be delivered by courier tomorrow. Lin and Kya had to be on their way soon, and needed to sail in the morning. They were headed back to the estate, and then they'd be leaving. The children extracted promises to come back and see them. Lin assured them she would, and Kya with her.

"Oh, we'll see you again, I promise," she said. "I'm going to fix up my house, and then you can come and visit me."

* * *

Lin limped a little as they approached the gates of the estate.

"Is it still sore?"

"Not bad. Just a twinge. I don't suppose we're meant to have broken bones fixed quite so quickly."

"Now that the cast's off, I can do a better job. Once we're back I'll take care of it."

"It's so… everything's in a whirl now, isn't it?"

"It's nice to be alone again with you," Kya said softly.

Lin took her hand as they walked through the gates, and they went together back to the kitchen, where their things were stored. As they passed through the kitchen door, they stopped short. The mats the family had slept on were tossed out of place, and their bags ransacked. Clothing was strewn about, the food spilled.

Lin sunk into a defensive posture, and Kya took a position at her back.

"Do you think they're still here?" Kya whispered.

"I don't know."

Lin concentrated. She stomped her foot, and the seismic waves spread out across the area and reflected back to her. There were two people on the other side of the kitchen wall in a storeroom, and four outside, positioned around the kitchen building. They'd been observed coming in, and were poised to attack.

"They know we are," she said, very quietly. "Two over behind that wall, and five outside. Ready?"

Kya nodded and Lin saw it in a shadow opposite the door. She raised her arms, and brought her fists down like two hammers. In the next room, the two bodies flew up from the ground, launched by rock pillars, and struck the ceiling. They fell in unconscious piles.

Kya whipped the water out of the jar that Huan had brought in yesterday. As the first of the men entered the room, he slipped on a sheet of ice she lay down in front of the door. Lin fixed his wrists down with the cobbled stone of the floor itself. The next one to enter was struck in the face with water, which she also froze, and he stumbled forward and tripped over the man pinned there.

"Move!" Lin shouted, and pushed Kya out the door, just as a section of roof caved in above them. She dove and tackled Kya, covering her with her body.

"Can't keep your hands off me," Kya joked breathlessly.

Lin got up with a smirk, but then searched the courtyard looking for the other three attackers. A movement in the periphery of her left eye caused her to turn that way, as she saw a dark form pass around the corner of the kitchen building.

"One's this way," she called out, and headed that direction.

Kya scanned the rest of the courtyard, looking for the others. Taking a deep breath, she ran across the open courtyard to a walkway that led to the gardens. She could see just around the corner of the building where Lin had gone, but could not see her. She concentrated on calming herself so she could hear better. In seconds she heard soft footsteps in the structure just to her right. She moved with silent grace and drew a massive amount of water from the koi pond, and turning with arms extended in a wide circle, brought it over the walkway, around the side of the building, and sent a wave crashing through a pair of open windows. Dropping her hands suddenly, the water became ice, leaving a block several inches thick inside the building, fixing the attacker in place.

She moved to cross the courtyard to where she’d last seen Lin going, when she was pelted in the shin with a fist-sized stone. She fell, and was struck again, this time in the lower back, and the back of her right arm. She curled up and covered her head to protect it, and lay still. She heard someone approaching her from behind, and when she was sure they were close, she passed her palms across each other, and a thick mist rose from the water pooling on the flagstones.

She stood, painfully, and limped around the edge of a thick cloud ball in the center of the courtyard. That fighter was temporarily blinded, and she took the little time she had to limp somewhere where she might find some cover. There was a another walkway and more buildings kitty-corner to the one she’d flooded, and she hid behind some overgrown shrubbery near the koi pond.

Kya managed to pull together enough water from the pond to form a healing covering over her hand, and rubbed her bruised shin and lower back. She felt relief from some of the pain, and was ready to fight again, but heard nothing more. She waited two long minutes, and then peered out of the shrubbery back into the courtyard. The mist was already dissipating, and the attacker was moving away from her, toward the corner where Lin had disappeared. She dashed forward, collected the mists in a swirling, sweeping motion, and sent the figure sprawling with a water ball from behind. This one too she iced to the ground.

She leapt past him, and rounded the corner. Lin was on the ground, clutching her ankle.

“That way!” she said in a strained voice, and gestured with her head toward the main house.

But Kya wasn’t ready to follow. She dropped to her knee and examined Lin’s ankle. “It’s broken again. How did he hit you?”

“Swept the knee,” she grimaced. “Not even bending.”

Kya bent some of the water nearby to form the glove again, and applied it to Lin’s ankle. She winced as the bones knitted a second time, this time more painfully.

“I’m sorry, baby. I’ll do it properly when we’re safe.”

“We’ve gotta get that guy,” she growled. “I don’t know what they’re doing here, but they knew we were coming, and there’s something rotten going on.”

Soon she was up, still limping slightly, and they moved toward the main house.

“Do you think he’s still in there? Could he have scaled the wall?”

“Maybe.”

They crept through the front door, and Kya kept a floating globe of water at the ready. Lin prepared a pair of stone cuffs. They headed toward the central staircase, but heard a rattling behind it. Lin signaled with her hands to split up, one to the left and the other to the right. Carefully and quietly they slipped through rooms to the side, circling around to the area behind the staircase.

The fighter was prepared. He flung a sharp stone at Kya, who dodged to the side, and in a spin and duck he aimed one Lin’s ankle. Lin deflected this rock, taking it into an orbit around her, and catapulting it with great force back at the man, who took it in the shoulder and whirled to the ground. Lin then slapped the stone cuffs on his wrists.

They dragged him out to the front of the house, and deposited him on the front porch. The first two, who’d had their heads strike the ceiling of the kitchens, were stumbling out of the building. Lin had them cuffed in short order, and marched them to the porch as well before binding their feet. The two under the collapsed roof were securely pinned, and there was enough ice on the ones frozen in the building and on the courtyard to keep them stuck until they could get police there.

“What are you doing here?” Lin demanded.

“You got our leader arrested,” one sullen young man grumbled.

“Shut up, Kang!” another one admonished.

“Kang? Mei’s husband?” Kya asked.

The sullen man looked at Kya as though he’d seen a ghost. “Mei? You’ve seen Mei?”

“She’s with your mother. She’ll take better care of her and your kids than you ever did,” Kya said angrily. “They’re better off without you.”

Lin lifted an eyebrow. Kya was compassionate, but she had a sense of justice too.

“Looks like a good portion of this gang is off the streets for a little while. Sorry fellas. Attacking an Beifong on her own property is just… stupid.”

Kya and Lin, both just a little worse for wear, left the estate, and headed into town again. Somehow it seemed later than midafternoon, and they were properly tired. Back on the city streets, they hailed yet another cab, and rode to the police station. They were escorted on the return trip with several police cars and a paddy wagon.

“You’ve done a great thing for us, Chief Beifong,” the officer said. She was the one who’d called the ambulance earlier. “These guys are slippery, and you managed to bring them down. With so many to lean on, one of them’s gonna roll on the others for sure, and we’ll get them put away for a good long while.” She smiled broadly.

Lin was impressed. Women cops were few and far between. She asked her name.

“Weng Zhun, Ma’am.”

“Officer Weng, we’re glad to be of service. My companion and I are traveling, but I intend to come back to see to some reconstruction of the Beifong estate. I look forward to seeing you then. I’d like your advice on several topics.”

The officer blushed and dropped her gaze. “I’m very honored.”

“Now, could you give us a ride to a nice hotel? I think we’d like our last night in town to be a little more comfortable than the first.”

* * *

That evening, after a fine dinner, they relaxed on the grounds of a four-star hotel. There was just a hint of fall color in some of the trees. The sun was on its way down, and the town started to light up. Some streetlights were coming on, and hanging lanterns criss-crossed the streets of the ancient city.

“This vacation is a lot more complicated than I expected, Lin.” Kya said, leaning forward on her bench, hands on her knees.

“Ha! I’ll never be able to forget this one!”

“Me neither! Crazy!”

“But look how it’s turning out… for every bit of trouble, we’ve been rewarded with some incredible good thing… new friends, good news. We brought a family back together. We saved kids from starving. From a life of crime!”

“It’s extraordinary how things balance sometimes.”

Lin looked out, across the gardens. She sighed. “If it weren’t for you, I’d be doing the same thing I’ve done for years and years… leaving work, going to Li Han’s, going home. You’ve changed everything for me. There’s so much we can do!”

Kya leaned back and pulled Lin close. They snuggled against the cool night air.

“No matter where you are, that’s where I want to be,” Lin said.

Kya didn’t respond. There it was again: the need to work out what her vision meant.

“Want to go back to the room?”

“Sure,” Kya said. “It’s getting chilly.”

“I can’t guarantee that I won’t just sleep. And this ankle… can you try again?”

“Of course, my love.”

“Kya, are you all right?”

“Of course! Why?”

“Every time I talk about the future you go quiet on me. Is that what your vision was about?”

Kya felt the blood drain from her face. “Yes, it is, in a way.”

“Are you ready to talk about it?”

“Tomorrow? We have a long sail the next several days. Let’s save it?”

Lin looked disappointed, and Kya felt her stomach drop.

“All right, darling.”

Kya stood, and offered a hand to Lin, who took it and stood as well. They walked, slowly, arm in arm, into the hotel. They went up to their room, high up, with a view of the city. Lin stretched out on the bed, and Kya brought over some water in a glass. She applied the healing water to Lin’s bare ankle, and she focused her energy on it. While she did, she thought about Dís and the betrothal necklace. She imagined Lin’s eyes as she presented the gift; she pictured her as she accepted the offer that it implied. The ring with the koi fish on her finger began to glow brighter, gently, and Lin, lying back, her eyes closed, gave a slight groan of pleasure.

“Oh, that does feel better now! What are you doing this time?”

“I’m adding a little love to it,” Kya said.

“It’s working!” Lin laughed. “Bring a little love up here, next,” she said, and touched her lips.

So Kya did, and she stretched her frame alongside Lin’s, warm and cozy. There was still a big bruise on the back of her own arm. She’d almost forgotten. But it didn’t matter. There was a tiny pinch of heartache, too, as she wrestled with the need to tell Lin everything, but she’d promised tomorrow, and tomorrow was soon enough.

They touched each other softly, languidly. There was no need for hungry passion tonight. Tonight they could rest, and should. The longest leg of the journey would start in the morning.


	13. The Ocean Blue

"Tomorrow was two days ago," Lin said.

They'd sailed from Gaoling then. This part of the trip was on open sea, bearing southwest. Kya hadn't brought it up, and Lin hadn't pressed her on it, but finally it was getting to be awkward, avoiding the subject.

Kya sighed, and sat down on the chest near the rudder. Lin took over for her.

"All right," she said. "Do you remember on the beach, when I said nobody loved me like you?"

"Yes. You said I didn't treat you like a prize to be won."

"Right. Well. That wasn't exactly true."

Lin frowned.

Kya said. "Let me explain. When I was young, like nineteen, but before I left Republic City, I tried to make some friends. I met a group of girls, and we went out dancing on the weekends. One time, one of the girls, Chinhua. She was giving me signals. I was curious about her. I was curious about everything."

Lin wasn't surprised. "You were young. So was she."

"Well, but hang on. That's not the whole story. So one time, we went to a ballroom, a big party of us, and one of the girls dared me to talk to somebody at the bar. I didn't want to, but I didn't know the girls very well, and I wanted to fit in. So I went over and said hello."

"A man?" Lin was surprised.

"Actually, no. It was a woman, and she was… well… if you didn't know her, you wouldn't think she was… beautiful."

Lin's face was puzzled.

Kya told Lin the story, how she'd come to know Dís, how she'd come to love her, but it never went further than a kiss goodnight. Lin's heart ached as Kya relived the pain. She'd had no idea.

"She had a lump in her breast. She'd been seeing Mom, but there wasn't anything that could be done. Mom couldn't heal it. She was dying. If it weren't for that, I might still be with her."

She sobbed. "She loved me so much that she didn't want me to mourn her any more than I was already going to. She brought me back to the island at dawn, and I said I'd see her later at the club, but she sailed off that day. I never saw her again. But she left me this," Kya said, touching the carving on her necklace.

Lin said, gently, "I wondered."

"You know what it means in the Water Tribe?"

"It's a betrothal. A promise."

"So you do know."

"Kya, I'm so sorry. That's a hard memory. Is that what you saw in your vision?"

It took some time for Kya to answer.

"Not exactly. I was so angry with her sometimes, after that. How could she just leave me? But…" she swallowed hard. "But the older I got, the better I understood. She set me free. She loved me more than anything, even herself. She said I didn't know the joy I'd given her. I didn't. I didn't understand then. I do now.

"In the vision, she was just standing there. She was showing me the necklace. But you needed to know who she was before I could explain the vision.

"After Dís, I didn't want to get that close to anyone again. It hurt so much when she was gone. I met a lot of women, some very beautiful, some not so much, and I tried to be kind to all of them, as much as I was able. But I didn't want any of them to tie me down. She wanted me to see the world, and meet other people. She'd set me free. I was going to stay free."

"But now…" Lin guessed.

"But now I have you. I know I don't want to leave you. But is Dís telling me that you need to be free? That I need to let you go, like she did for me? You've got such big plans, Lin! And what happens if Mom won't agree to come with us?" Kya put her face in her hands, and her shoulders shook as her sobs took over."I didn't want to face it."

Lin was taken aback. She'd had every intention of staying wherever Kya was. She'd had no idea that Kya would even consider letting her go. She hadn't wanted to stand in the way of her future?

"Why would you think I'd want that? Those big plans? _They're just plans._ I can do them anywhere. Do you think I care more about being Chief of Police than being with you? Do you think there's anything I would want more than I want you?"

"You should to be free to choose."

"And I am! Oh, Kya. I would always choose to be with you. I wouldn't have any future at all without you. Not one that made any sense."

"But what about Mom? If she wants to stay, I have to stay with her."

"If she wants to stay, you stay with her, and I stay with you. No brainer."

"But what about Republic City? Gaoling? What about those plans?"

"What about 'em? I can do anything from anywhere, as long as I have you."

Kya stood, and pulled Lin away from the rudder. She kissed her, deeply.

After a time, Lin stepped away, breathless. "Kya. I love you more than anything…than everything. I would do anything, or go anywhere, or be anything for you. But right now? I gotta steer this boat."

Kya laughed, a long, loud laugh. A great weight was lifting from her.

She reached behind her neck, and untied the band of the necklace. She stepped up to Lin, and put it around hers.

"This is my promise," she said, tying it. "For life."

* * *

Night fell, and they shortened the sails. It was getting very cold, the further south they progressed. Lin didn't want to go below to sleep. Her last time night sailing had been magical. She could hardly wait to see what wonders tonight held.

"You have to go sleep, or you'll be a wreck when your watch comes."

"I'll go down in a little while, I promise."

Kya sighed, but she was pleased that Lin would be keeping her company, at least for a while.

The sun went down, and the stars began to shine, very brightly. Tonight they'd see the moon, just coming up, deep orange in the east.

Lin snuggled into a nest of blankets she'd brought up. She lay back and stared at the heavens.

"So beautiful," she said.

"Mmm hmm."

"So tell me…."

"Tell you what?"

"Remember the morning in that cottage on the beach?"

"Let me think… Oh! Oh yeah… I remember. Mmmmm…" Kya grinned as she recalled.

"So what were you writing?"

"What?"

"Do you remember, you wrote something on my skin?"

Kya was confused for a second, and then the memory rushed back to her. She laughed.

"What was it?"

"An old poem. A really old poem. Like, centuries old."

"Really?"

"Here's how it goes.

> I want to be your love for ever and ever,
> 
> Without break or decay.
> 
> When the hills are all flat,
> 
> The rivers are all dry
> 
> When it thunders in winter,
> 
> When it snows in summer,
> 
> When heaven and earth mingle,
> 
> Not until then will I part from you."

"Kya! That's…that's beautiful."

Kya shrugged. "Just thought it seemed appropriate. I wanted it to be true. But I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud."

"You can now. So, I think it will be."

* * *

The next night, Lin yawned as she rose to take her turn for the night watch.

"How much more of this do we have to do?"

"Two or three more days, I'd guess. We're getting close."

"DAYS? Are you kidding me?"

"I warned you this was the longest part."

"Ho boy. Yeah… yeah you did."

"Getting tired of me already?"

"Of you? Never. Of water?" She shrugged. Then she came up to the rudder, and wrapped her arms around Kya from behind. "But I'm _really_ tired of sleeping alone."

"Me too. But, you know… there's no one watching."

"Here? Now?"

"What's stopping you?"

"It's cold, for one thing!"

"Is it? I hadn't noticed." Kya casually took off and dropped her parka to the side.

"Are you nuts?"

Instead of answering, Kya unwrapped the band around her waist. She tossed it on top of the parka.

“Kya! What are you doing?”

Next she pulled off the sleeveless tunic she wore over her dress. On top of the pile it went.

Lin was struck speechless.

Kya bent and lifted the skirt of the dark blue dress she always wore. When she got it over her hips, she looked at Lin mischievously.

“Well?”

“Well what? You’re insane.”

“Am I? I’m just… undressing. What are you doing?”

Lin was appalled. “Are you suggesting that I do the same?”

Kya smirked. She tossed the dress over and started to unwind the bindings around her chest.

Lin’s mouth hung open as Kya revealed her breasts. The air was near freezing, this late at night, this far south.

“What’s the matter with you, Lin?” she said. “Too cold for you?”

“I.. ah… you’re…you’re gonna get frostbite.”

“Not if you warm me up.”

Lin couldn’t resist the invitation. She came close to Kya at the rudder and took off her own parka. It was chilly, but not too bad, she supposed.

Her hands touched Kya’s shoulders, and her skin was remarkably warm. Her hands passed over her arms, down to her hands. She slipped them around Kya’s waist and drew her close.

“Now you’re getting it,” she said. Her impish grin never left her face, as her eyes locked with Lin’s.

Lin looked up slightly, and Kya bent to kiss her lips. It was a soft, gentle kiss. _She's so easy to be with,_ Lin thought. Lin’s hands reached up her lean back and pulled her in. Kya took her face in her hands, kissing her again, tongue searching. Lin felt warmth flood through her.

_Aha,_ she thought. _Wise Kya._

Kya’s hands dropped and sought the inside of Lin’s jacket, touching her sides, sliding to her hips. She came around front and worked at the button of her trousers. The warmth flooding through Lin became that familiar swirl of excitement in her stomach.

She reached inside the waistband of Kya’s underskirt with both hands and her fingers pressed into the soft skin of Kya’s backside. Kya moved her kisses to Lin’s throat, and Lin leaned her head back to offer more. One of Kya’s hands lifted up, and slid palm forward inside the loosened trousers, while the other came up and over her breast, squeezing gently through the cloth of her shirt.

Cool fingers touched the bare skin of Lin’s lower stomach, and she drew a sharp breath. In a moment or two, they were warm again, and slid lower.

Her own hands came free and in between them to undo the buttons of her shirt. She yanked it free from her shoulders and threw both the shirt and jacket aside.

Now both their shoulders were bare, and Lin took a moment to dip and take Kya’s nipple in her mouth, rolling her tongue over the peak. She was satisfied to hear Kya say “Mmm”.

Kya continued with her hand searching inside Lin’s trousers. She teased the hair of her mons, twirling the curly strands with her fingertips. Lin’s breath was short. She straightened, and engaged Kya in another kiss, taking her lower lip lightly between her teeth.

Kya pushed her fingers into the lips of Lin’s mound, and moved with short strokes across the sensitive bud. Lin jerked slightly with each stroke, and dampness covered Kya’s fingers. Now she could move her fingers smoothly in longer strokes, bringing Lin nearly on her toes with each pull.

They persisted with kisses, in between gulps of air, and the excited moans Kya drew from Lin, as the sensation and heat spread from her very core outward. Kya felt a shaking hand slip beneath her waistband again, this time at the front. Lin touched her already swollen clit, and Kya felt her knees go weak for a moment.

Together they pushed and pulled with their fingers, feeding the other’s excitement. Kya’s strokes became uneven as she neared the edge, so she pressed firmly with two fingers, and the sudden pressure caused Lin to cry out. And then Kya came, shuddering and tensing, a groan escaping her mouth. That sound, and Kya’s trembling, pushed Lin past her limit, and she too seized with the convulsive grip of her orgasm.

They clutched at each other to keep from falling, arms tight around each other. They breathed hard, letting the waves of sensation crash over them. In a minute or two, they felt the chill return, and Lin laughed joyously.

“Oh, you _are_  good!”

Kya rewarded her with a quick kiss, and then bent to pick up her dress and tunic. She put them on quickly, and Lin buttoned herself back into her own clothes. She flung Kya’s parka around her shoulders.

Kya picked up Lin’s parka, and held it open for her. Lin gratefully slid her arms back in, and in moments it was warm again. The night was quite cold now.

“Lin, my love… I hate to do this to you.”

Lin looked concerned, and frowned slightly. “Do what?”

“I’m going to bed. Your turn to take the rudder. Three hours.”

Lin groaned, but this time in dismay. She’d quite forgotten it was her turn to guide the boat, and would eagerly have fallen asleep in Kya’s arms, in delicious, soft warmth.

“Kyaaaa,” she complained.

“I love you, Lin,” Kya said, cheerfully. “Good night.”

“How can I complain now?” she laughed. “Good night. I love you too.”

She leaned on the rudder, looking out across the shining sea, lit by moonlight, and sighed. _Oh, how I love you,_ she thought.

* * *

They’d passed some islands. They had wide, sandy beaches and tall evergreen forests. It was a relief to Lin, after days of open sea. She was, she reminded Kya, an earthbender; this much time not in contact with earth was just… weird.

Two more days and nights of hard sailing, and now ice floes were occasionally bumping up against the ship. Kya sighted the first peak of a mountain on the continent of the South Pole. She kissed Lin for pure joy… it had been several weeks since she’d been home, and so much had happened it was hard to believe that it was just now becoming the winter season here. Kya was excited to be back, and to tell her mother about their adventures. And yes, they’d talk, they’d suggest that Katara come back with them to Republic City, so that she and Lin could be together permanently; they were prepared for any answer.

A Water Tribe fishing fleet hailed them, and they waved excitedly. Lin could sense the way that the members of the Tribe considered themselves part of a large, extended family. She was, she realized with a shock, going to be considered one of them; Kya’s betrothal necklace encircled her own throat. A plan to make one for Kya popped into her head, with some interesting Earthbender touches… a little silver, some colored stones… of course.

It wouldn’t be long. They could sail with the fishing fleet, gratefully accepting being towed overnight while the two of them got a good night’s sleep. They’d be home in the morning. Home. Kya’s home. Maybe Lin’s new home. She knew it was going to be quite an adjustment, but that didn’t matter much. Wherever Kya was, that was where Lin wanted to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The poem comes from Yuefu folk poems of the Han Dynasty in China. The hero takes an oath that even if the seas go dry and rocks crumble, her love remains firm. The poem is a woman's warm confession to her lover.


	14. Work in the Morning

At the pier in the morning, Kya was greeted by many people, friends and patients and people who knew her. The Water Tribe city was large, but it felt like a small town, and everyone seemed to know each other. Lin was welcomed too. She was met by some with raised eyebrows, if they glimpsed her necklace.

They arrived just before a blizzard. They were part of the way into the city when the wind picked up and snow fell, and Lin was grateful for a warm coat against the biting air. A few Satomobiles struggled through the streets, but mostly the people walked along cheerfully, some wearing snowshoes, many on sleds, some on snowmobiles. Normal day at the Pole.

Kya led the way to Katara's home by the shortest path, and she burst through the door with a big "Hey Mom!" Outside the world was shades of blue… inside it was warm and golden, a fire on the hearth. Katara was in her bedroom, and when she came out Kya surrounded her with a great hug and kisses on the cheek.

"Oh, Kya. I'm so, so glad you're home safe!"

"I missed you so much, Mom!"

Lin stood back a bit, watching the reunion. Kya took her hand and pulled her into the embrace.

They hung their dripping parkas by the door, and settled into chairs by the fire.

"Tell me about the trip. Tenzin sent me a letter. He told me about your boat. I'm sorry that happened, sweetie. But Lin gave you a new one?"

"You should see it, Mom! It's a little bigger, with a little more space, and a radio, and a motor! I don't think we've used the motor yet, though, have we, Lin?"

Lin smiled and nodded.

"Obviously you've turned Lin into a fine sailor, if the two of you made it here alone in such good time."

Lin snorted. Good time? That last leg… days and days on the open sea… that was fast?

Katara chuckled. "But you're still an earthbender, just like Toph. She hated flying on Appa. Down on the earth was where she always wanted to be."

"I admit, I'm glad to be on solid ground. That was more water than I want to see again in a while."

"How are you going to get back to Republic City?"

Ah… there it was. The big question.

"Well… I guess that depends, Mom," Kya said.

"On whether I'm coming with you?"

Kya and Lin looked at each other. How did she know?

"We… we wanted to talk to you about it."

The hardest thing in the world is to be away from the ones you love, isn't it?"

They nodded, somberly and in unison, now not looking at each other.

"Oh, you two. Relax!" She laughed. "Want some tea?" She got up and took the kettle to the fire, bending some water from a jar along the way.

"Tenzin was so funny in his letter. He told me about how you and Lin sailed off together, to get away from that horrible newspaper guy. Lee, was it? There are a million Lees. I swear, that boy has his head in the clouds so often…"

Kya laughed, incredulously. "What do you mean?"

"He had no idea about you! He didn't know you ever saw anyone at all!"

"That little…I'm going to poke him _so hard_ next time I see him. He said he knew!"

"I guess he fooled you, huh?" She laughed out loud.

"Okay, okay," Kya said, after the mirthful moment had passed. "So. What do you think, Mom? Do you want me to stay here with you, or would you consider coming back to Republic City?"

"I would never, ever keep you from someone you love, Kya. And it's clear to me how much you love Lin, and she loves you. You two wouldn't be here together now otherwise. She's ready to come here, just to be where you are. Right?"

Lin's face was awestruck. Katara was wiser than the two of them together. She knew, and understood, without a word.

"And I know you love me, because you wouldn't even ask otherwise, right?"

"Of course, Mom."

"The South Pole is my home, but, like everything else, it's changed. It was changed after we got back from the war. It was changed even more after we came back from Republic City. I love the Southern Water Tribe, but not more than you. It's just a place, baby. But you're _my_ baby. I want to be where you are."

"Oh, Mom…" Kya said, and was up and over to her, crying in her lap, a child again. Katara stroked her hair.

"And Tenzin, and Bumi, and the kids… I miss them too. I want to be where they are. So of course we're going back to Republic City."

"Thank you," Lin said, her voice strained. She was struggling not to break down herself.

"Besides, haven't you heard? Little Rohan is a waterbender!" Katara beamed with pride.

"I _knew_ it!" Kya exclaimed.

"You'll have to do the training this time, Kya. I've done enough for a couple of lifetimes."

"No problem. No problem at all." She was all smiles.

"Tea's ready. Want some? I want to hear about your trip. Did you see the Unagi?"

* * *

That night, at bedtime, Katara went to her room, Kya to hers, and Lin went into the guest room. After a while, maybe half an hour, Lin heard Kya sneaking in. She slipped into the bed beside her.

"We can't, Kya," she whispered, as Kya began tugging at her undershirt.

"Who says?" Kya argued, also whispering.

"Your mom is _right there!”_ She pointed at the door.

"She's asleep. Don't worry." She mimicked Toph's voice. "What are you, fourteen?" 

Lin snickered through a growl and pretended to chomp Kya's throat.

Kya managed to get the shirt off her, and slipped her own nightdress off. Lin growled low, again, this time lustily. She moved her hands all over, up Kya's soft body and down again. Up on her knees, she pinned Kya hands down and ran her tongue in circles around her breasts, spiraling in toward the center. Kya writhed with pleasure, rubbing her legs together, hot for more.

Up to her lips she went, and their mouths came together. Lin bit gently on Kya's tongue. Kya's hands scratched against Lin's back, and she brought her legs around her, pulling her toward herself. They moved against each other, breathing hard.

They rolled, and now Kya was straddling Lin's thighs. She brought her hands down, slowly, along Lin's body, and into her bottoms. She touched the wetness, and brought her fingers to her lips, sucking them.

"Mmmm."

"I'm not deaf," Katara called from her bedroom.

Kay brought her leg back over, stepped out of the bed, snatched her nightdress from the floor, and padded back to her room without another word. Lin bit her lip, fighting laughter.

 

* * *

Katara simply locked the doors, carrying only a bag of clothing, much as she had seventy-odd years before. She told Lin and Kya that she intended to come back for the Spirit Festival, but they could use her house whenever they wanted.

Kya had been to the hospital, to say goodbye and tender an already-assumed resignation. She arranged to have her ship put in dry-dock, and whatever things they had they carried. Lin kept the Kyoshi fans in her bag.

They'd spent time with Tonraq and Senna, to tell them how Korra had aided them in escaping Lee, and catching the thieves in Lin's house. Lin shared the outlines of her plans for an academy in Gaoling. Tonraq, as Chief of the Southern Water Tribes, would be a resource when speaking to the United Republics about school for all young children. She'd been deeply impressed by the way the Tribe took care of its members. Everyone had a place: to be without a home through the polar winter was certain death.

Now they stood on an airship field. The journey back would be much shorter and quieter; leaving in the evening, they would be arriving sometime during the middle of the next day.

* * *

 

Korra met them with her usual crooked grin as they arrived on Air Temple Island.

"I'd like you to meet our newest airbender! Noma?"

Noma recognized Lin and Kya instantly, and jumping, literally flew to them, embracing both.

"What the…" Lin said, gobsmacked.

“Noma, how do you know them?” Korra was confused.

“These are the women who saved me,” Noma said. "I pickpocketed some coins from her, but she gave me fifty yuan instead!"

"I didn't do exactly what you told me," she admitted to Lin. "Instead of looking for work in the village, I just came straight up to Republic City to look for work. I needed to get away from there. Anyway, I got a job, and a place, and finally, for the first time ever, I had enough to eat. I got stronger and stronger, and one day I kinda… blew someone over at work."

"When the other airbenders discovered their abilities, they were all a little older than Noma," Korra explained. "Noma didn't know she could airbend because she never had the strength before.When she blew that guy over at work, Asami was there on the production floor. He totally deserved it, by the way.”

“So Asami knew just what to do,” Noma said, “and she called Korra. And Korra… she’s just so _coooool!”_

Lin rolled her eyes… “Just what Korra needs. A big head.”

“Lin’s a fun-hater,” Korra kidded. She slugged Lin on the bicep.

Kya bellowed with laughter. Lin gave her a look. “What are you laughing at?”

Kya cozied up to Lin. “They don’t know you like I know you. You’re no fun-hater.”

“Hmpf.” Lin’s arms folded, and everything was absolutely back to normal.

* * *

A new home. A garden. A long hallway with guest rooms, Katara’s room safely (and quietly) at one end, Kya and Lin’s at the other. Art on the walls. Music on the radio. Cold drinks with ice. A porch swing. Evening falling. Summer at its peak.

“We should get to bed early tonight,” Kya said, leaning against Lin.

“Why is that?”

“Tomorrow’s a big day. There’s work to do.”

“There’s a _lot_ of work to do.”

“You can do it. We can do it.”

“I like the ‘we’ better.”

“True. _We_ can do it.”

“This is all I wanted,” Lin said. “To be with you, in a little home.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed it, but yeah. Me too.”

“You know, just because we should go to bed early, doesn’t mean we have to go to sleep right away.”

“Hmm. I like the way you think, Chief.”

“You know how much I love you?”

“I do. You know I do. Do you know how much I love _you?”_

The stone on Kya’s ring glittered in the growing darkness.


End file.
